This was our very first cruise on any line; we had great expectations for a terrific experience. It turns out that our cruise was not what we had hoped for from the moment we arrived at the pier. We had informed NCL of our expected arrival time of 11:30 on November 2nd many weeks before our arrival. Our cruise documents indicate NCL was aware of our arrival time.

We could have taken a later train from Rhode Island and slept in and had a leisurely breakfast, but we chose to get up early to be sure we were not late to the ship in case of train delays or any other reason due to our travel arrangements. We made sure that we arrived at 11:30 as we had indicated to NCL.

When we arrived at the cruise port it was total insanity! Thousands of pieces of luggage on the curb and thousands of people in line! There was NO direction from NCL staff for those of us not experienced with the boarding process. We snaked all around the building following the people in front of us hoping we were in the correct line. Finally we got through the security screening and almost instantly NCL staff started to announce that the companies WIFI had gone down and they were not able to check us in. The NCL staff indicated that they were waiting for NCL IT staff to repair the WIFI and that we could not be checked in until the problem was resolved. They suggested anyone not already through security should leave and come back in a few hours. We had been in line for an hour at this point. So much for a pleasant start to our first cruise! Read more