This was our fourth trip to Bermuda, 13th cruise and first with NCL.

We drove from Virginia and stayed at the Hampton Inn Elizabeth NJ the night before the cruise. The drive from the hotel to the Manhattan Cruise Terminal was about 40 minutes (with light Sunday traffic). We arrived at the terminal at about 10 a.m., paid $280 to park and there was only a short walk to the terminal elevator to drop off our luggage. After checking in, we waited in a large holding area for about an hour before being let onto the ship. I recall that we were able to board around 11:30 a.m. One of the things I liked about the boarding process on this ship was that we were able to drop off our bags in our stateroom as soon as we came on board. We were told that we could only enter the room for the purpose of dropping off the luggage. Our steward was cleaning our cabin when we did so.

Our cabin was a mini-suite with a large balcony on deck 8 (8130). We were port side. Staying with my wife and me were our 12 year-old nephew and 9 year-old niece. The rest of our family (6 adults) stayed on deck 9. Read more