AnnB9

I was very pleased to experience for the first time Norwegians freestyle cruising aboard the Norwegian Spirit traveling to Roatan Island, Santo Tomas De Castilla in Guatemala, Belize City and Cozumel out of the Port of New Orleans. I can only say that I wish I had sampled their approach to cruising five cruises ago. With 11 restaurants on the ship, one truly is free to do whatever, whenever. Yes, the specialty restaurants do require advance reservations, but I was happy with Raffles, the Blue Lagoon and, the more formal dinning room, Windows, where you can get anything from comfort food (thats right, hot dogs, hamburgers, French fries, buffalo wings, etc.) to duck lorange and lobster. You just show up whenever you are hungry and since my shore excursions usually involved getting wet, muddy, hot, and sweaty or any combination or all four of the above, the last thing I wanted to do when I got back to the ship was dress for dinner. The freestyle cruising let me head straight for one of their four luxurious hot tubs and a cold beer. The extensive selection and variety of shore excursions was particularly impressive. There was something for every level of exertion, but not to be missed is the dolphin swim. I didnt quite believe the brochures when they billed at as the adventure of a lifetime, but my dolphin swim lived up to all that and more. NCL made every effort to accommodate the infinite wishes and desires of their passengers from the quiet elegance of their library to the great jazz band that rocked long into the night. The cabins were spacious, comfortable and no amenity was overlooked. In fact the only thing overlooked in my cabin was the ocean. I must commend the ships architects on their bathrooms which were ingeniously designed to accommodate two people at the same time in complete privacy. Even NCLs mandatory disembarkation briefing was made fun and entertaining. Need I say more about New Orleans as a point of departure?! Be sure you allot a few extra days either before or after the cruise even if its only long enough to stuff your face with beignets and indulge in a big bowl of gumbo. In New Orleans, its always a party! THANK YOU NCL!