This was our 5th cruise on NCL. Our earliest were before Freestyle, and a lot has changed.
We arrived in Vancouver a day early and were picked up by Holiday Inn Express shuttle (Richmond). Since we've paid a lot of money in the past for taxi's, we opted to return to the airport the next morning and take NCL's bus to the port. In hindsight, we could have saved a lot of time and money by walking a few blocks (we only had carry-on bags on wheels), and hopping the SkyTrain from the Casino, Oh well.
Embarkation was....typical. Long lines to get through customs, but not a long wait to get through NCL security (in part due to being very early and to being Latitude members).
Got a great deal on a guarantee balcony. DO ask for an eggcrate pad, if you don't like sleeping on a brick hard mattress! Also, the shower wouldn't hold the temperature and fluctuated between tepid and scalding.