We did an 18 day Panama Canal Cruise from New Orleans to Van Couver, BC in 2007 on the Pearl. We have also been on 5 other NCL Ships total 14 Cruises on NCL. We prefer them over the Carnival Cruises. We have Mardi Gras 2018 booked on the Pearl, which will be in New Orleans then. We find the food is better on NCL than Carnival, but not as good as on Royal Caribbean (sp?), but RCCL won't come back to New Orleans, so we stick with NCL.
The Casino is much like other ships, seems the first day of the Cruise, everyone does pretty well, then towards the end, no one is winning (on slots, we don't do the table games). Also, a non-smoker really notices the heavy smoke in the Casino, which is the only indoor place that smoking is permitted. Smoke in a Casino is the norm, these days I suppose.
Make sure you get the Ultimate Beverage Package as your promotion, if you can. It is now being offered if you book before March 31. Otherwise it costs about $600 per person, and everyone over 21 in that cabin has to purchase it.