This was our 3rd NCL cruise, 9th total (3-Carnival, 3-Royal). We normally cruise in the fall but our 40th wedding anniversary was March 8th and decided what better way to celebrate than a cruise! I'm not sure we would sail again this time of year out of New York City. Felt as though we lost 3 days to the weather, even though we expected that, I missed being outside more often. Embarkation day was actually one of the nicest days all winter, so we lucked out there! Sunny and near 50! We parked at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, expensive ($280) but we think it's worth it. Arrived at 10:00 and were onboard by 11:20. There were two check-in areas, we were on deck 5 so they sent us all the way to the back of the terminal which worked out great! We boarded in the aft and got right on an elevator, straight up to the buffet, hardly anyone there! Within an hour it was packed, so we lucked out (again!). We then went to our cabin which was ready and dropped off our carry-on, then started exploring the ship. We had the UBP, so we had our first drinks in the Atrium Bar. Our life boat drill was held in the theater (which, by the way, has the most uncomfortable seats-more on that later) at 2:30. Then we went up to Spice H2O for sail away. To me, this was more of a family sail away because they had all the Nickelodeon characters there and a woman on stilts dancing. We stayed outside until we went under the Verrazano Bridge - nothing like sailing away from NYC - but it was too cold to stay outside any longer. Back to our cabin - #5728 - where one piece of luggage was there so we unpacked and the other followed shortly after. We had a letter from the Box Office Team that our reservations for Burn the Floor and Rock of Ages were no longer required and to "further enhance your Freestyle cruise experience, please feel free to attend any of the above listed performances, as reservations are no longer required." At first I was a little miffed at that because I spent some time selecting the days/times we would attend and now that didn't matter. We had dinner reservations in the Manhattan Room for 8:30 - arrived on time, seated promptly and enjoyed a very nice dinner. It was our anniversary and several waiters sang "Let Me Call you Sweetheart" to us and presented a little cake. Very sweet, just wish I had a video of it! Day 1 went very well.

Cabin - We booked an ocean view guarantee - got cabin 5728 -I almost called to upgrade to a balcony. I am glad I didn't. Loved the location of this cabin! Close to elevators and stairs - just one deck up to the Atrium. Very convenient location. The cabin itself was very comfortable with one exception. There are no chairs, just one hassock type seat tucked under the vanity/desk. There is room for a chair (with a back, please!)... This would be my only complaint about the cabin! We had room service twice and it is kind of rough eating on the bed! Which segues into my next subject -

Room Service - I got sick on the first full sea day in the late afternoon (stomach issue I get now & then) and we had to stay in. We ordered room service around 8:00 and it seemed to take forever to arrive...my husband's cheeseburger was cold and my grilled cheese was only cooked on one side and cold. On debarkation day we ordered breakfast on a card you hang on your door the night before. Requested delivery between 7:00-7:30 and it arrived at 7:10. Everything was there and it was just fine. Read more