Background - 27 male, budget conscious, first time cruiser.
Embarkation - Arrive via MIA (Miami International) via Air Tran from MDW (Chicago)on the same day. At the baggage claim area - NCL had people setup for $15 rides one way to the port. We were a bit late to get our bags so we missed the initial shuttle and had to wait another half hr. No problems there - the staff was informative, friendly. We dropped our bags off with the men at the shuttle waiting area and didn't have to bother with the bags again until the evening on the ship when the stewards dropped off our luggage outside the staterooms.
Upon arriving at the ship terminals, we were not given much instruction on where to go. I just figure that I should enter the entrance closest to the Norwegian Pearl. We had to fill out a form indicating recent medical history (for health reasons - viruses and such)- no big deal. We proceeded through the metal detectors, short queue to the counter to check in. Our photos were taken for the database, passport, documents, and credit card were processed. Oh, by the way, I found out that there were no cell phones allowed in the building (the lady counter gave me a stare down as I was checking my voicemail. I did not notice any signs, but no bother...) We went up the escalators, queued up alphabetically for our key cards. Juice and Water was offered to the side. Up the ramp, onto the gangway where we queued up again. Apparently we are forced to take an embarkation photo with our group (they try to sell you the picture once they develop them. I suggest not wearing blue, as the blue screen will have you as a floating head on the background of the finished photo. - unless the kids want to see that happen). Once we took our boarding photo, we proceeded to check out our stateroom on deck 5 - two decks below the main deck 7. Beautiful interior, wood accents, large murals of animals on the walls, helpful staff positioned at all common areas to answer questions.