We took the 8 day Eastern Caribbean Cruise leaving from pier 90 in New York City. Our cruise began on Saturday, February 24th and ended on Sunday march 4th. I own a small real estate appraisal company, and after years of talking about a whole office vacation, we actually did it. Our group numbered 10 people, ages 44-68. It included four 1st time cruisers and six 3rd time cruisers. We all had a good time, and we'd all do it again. As this review progresses, I will criticize some things, but these things didn't ruin my cruise, nor would they stop me from taking NCL in the future.
Because we live near Allentown, Pa about 1.5 hours from New York City, and because we heard that parking would cost over $160, we hired J&J Luxury Transportation at 610-776-1516 to take us to and from the ship. The roundtrip bill, including gratuity, worked out to be $66 per person. J&J got us there in good time and got us home the same way.
Embarkation: We arrived at pier 90 about 12:45. Porters helped with luggage. We got in line, went through security, got our key cards, and arrived on board in about 1 hour. The latitudes Member Line probably would have been a bit faster, but my wife and I were the only past NCL Cruisers. We elected to stay with our group. Once on board, we wandered about until the cabins were ready (2-2:30).