Not knowing what to expect as first time cruisers, we obviously over packed. Our first clue to this was the car service driver's comments we had pick us up at home at 9:45 to drive us the the NY port - living in central NJ the drive was just over an hour. We had 7 people in our group - myself, husband, our 18 yr. old, 16 yr. old and soon-to-be 8 yr. old, plus in-laws. Traffic was fine, we arrived at the port by 11:00. We immediately were asked where we were staying and led to a "special" line for Suites/Villa's. We checked in with our e-docs, passports, and driver's licenses and were handed our room keys by Lisa Meyer, our concierge. Lisa was almost "too happy" as my teens pointed out, but later we found out it was truly her way - always upbeat, friendly, and we loved the way she remembered us and kept up with all of our activities and reservations.

Lisa escorted us to a waiting area for suites/villas which offered hot chocolate, banana bread (yummy), and cookies. Lisa updated us with what time we could expect to board - it ended up being 12:45 before we were allowed on. I always seem to lag behind the rest of my group dragging my little one along - I was surprised to see my 18 year old had a glass of champagne in her hand when I caught up to her. My husband informed me that no one asked her age or carded her (she looks like she is 12 yrs. old, my 16 yr. old son looks much older than she does). We immediately purchased the soda cards we wanted, a station was set up by the Java Bar. We were in awe as we looked around, and followed the tips we have read on this board to ask to eat lunch at the Grand Pacific - I am surprised more people don't do this, it was so nice and comfortable, the food was really good, too. We had hamburgers, salads, soups, sandwiches, everyone in our group enjoyed their meal. An announcement was made that the rooms were ready.

After lunch we decided to go out on the 13th deck overlooking the pool area for our first "send off" and it was a good choice. By the pool there was a band, huge grills cooking chicken, rice, etc. My teens took many pictures. After this we tried to go up to 14th floor where our Penthouse rooms were, but we couldn't figure out the "system". We were told by a crew member to use our room card in the elevator before hitting the 14th floor button, or use it in the door on the stairs to unlock it. Can I just say "WOW" - the courtyard is beautiful, the pool looked small (but after using it all the time, it seemed like just the right size for the number of people using it), our room seemed smaller than on the NCL website, but nice, clean, and welcoming. The master bathroom is unbelievable! Read more