Flew to NY from Florida - I know it sounds crazy- but friends wanted us to join them.
Spent the night in Mahwah, and arrived at pier about 10:00 am. Lines were not bad. We were toward the front. This was our first NCL cruise, not our first cruise by any means. Our friends had sailed NCL before.
I know brand loyalty has some perks but since we were first time NCL'ers we were given an embarkation group number of 21. Our friends got # 5. Ditched that # 21 and boarded with the friends. I just thought kind of weird to be near front of line and get assigned group 21.