Embarkation: This was our first cruise out of San Pedro and the shuttle dropped us at the disembarkation point, which meant a very long walk with carry-ons. A word of warning: You cannot carry on the large size cruise bags, only airline approved carry-ons. We reached the port building and were shown to the VIP line (we booked a penthouse). There was no waiting and we were greeted by an NCL rep that took our Passport and credit card information, snapped our pictures and moved us along to our Concierge, Simone. Simone was just lovely! She presented us with our key cards, Freestyle Daily and information regarding a special Valentine's Dinner to be held in Le Bistro that evening (which we promptly reserved). Our Butler, Roshan Beeshamsing, introduced himself and within 10 minutes we were on our way to our cabin (we let Roshan accompany newbies to their suite). Roshan arrived at our cabin about 10 minutes later to go over the location of various items and then wished us a pleasant journey. Our Cabin Stewards, Jo-Jo and Jose, stopped by to introduce themselves and asked if we needed anything. We took advantage of the early hour to have lunch in Cagney's before surveying our cabin some more, when we found our bags had already arrived. Before muster was even called, we were unpacked and settling in to the 'suite' life. Muster took a while as some people think it's a huge joke—not unlike the jerks on the airplanes who never listen to the flight attendant safety announcements. In any event, we barely got back to our cabin and we were sailing away! The champagne barely got popped in time...

Cabin: A penthouse on deck 9, similar to others we have had, but slightly smaller as the ship is a bit smaller (we are used to gem ships). Our deck could barely hold two loungers and a table with no room to walk around at all. The penthouses and romance suites are fairly much the same size and set-up with adequate storage for 2, both in the closets, drawers, cubbies and bathroom. The vanity area makes especially nice for the female traveler and the desk area is great for writing notes and making phone calls. The colors are especially nice and soothing, not like the Caribbean hurl of the gem ships (sorry, I just can't stand those colors—nothing relaxing about them). The televisions have been changed out to larger versions and DVD players are now available in all suites. I did miss the portable telephone, but again, that's another difference from the gem ships. There is also no wifi available anywhere but at the internet cafe. I hope this improves when the ship goes into dry dock for her refurbishment (which she needs badly on the inside). One warning note: Each morning water will 'rain' down on your deck; we never could figure out if it comes from the pool or the spa which are a few decks above. And this was the first time I've ever been burned by the embers that come from the smoke stack at night—it was a large ember and burned my finger which hurt a lot.

Meet and Greet: Held the first full day at sea and wonderfully arranged by the onboard group coordinator, Rashida Ramos. Drinks and snacks were available and we were blessed by a large number of officers attending. They were: Captain Lars Bergstrom; Cruise Director, Paul Baya; Food and Beverage Director, Michael Harris; Hotel Director, Jean-Michel Dhelin; Restaurant Manager, Carlos Sousa; Executive Chef, Andreas Dymke; and Marites Sonza, Executive Housekeeper. They were very gracious and kind to avail themselves of us and answered many questions. Last, but certainly not least, a big thank you to Jennifer Hoadley, our group event coordinator at corporate. Read more