We stayed at the Best Western Tampa pre-cruise, it was a great stay and a quick taxi ride to the port in the morning.
Just a little background information, we have cruised with Carnival in 1999 and then cruised with NCL GEM in 2010.
We arrived at the port at 11am and boarding was a breeze, a little of a line-up however it was moving pretty quick and seemed to be fairly organized. We headed to Versailles for lunch and this was the best choice by far. Last time on the GEM we had gone to the Buffet upon boarding and it was a zoo. Make your way to the Main Dining room, it's much better. We had lunch and explored a bit. We were able to get to our cabin at around 2pm however our luggage never arrived before 5:30pm. We then headed to MDR(main dining room) and surprise there was a huge line-up as it was lobster night. We waited in line and was then handed a beeper. It was about 5-10 min later that we were called to be seated. It was worth it as it was really good. We never experienced any other wait times at the MDR and we were there at different times each night.
Inside Cabin - Mid ship, very quiet location. Close to the Blue Lagoon and Grand Atrium. Lots of closet space. Table was in the way for the ladder to the bunk bed so made it difficult for my daughter to climb up.