Background: On this sailing were myself, DH and adult DD. DH and I have sailed 19 times on NCL, twice on HAL. This was DD's 3rd NCL cruise. We prefer, among so many other things about NCL, the laid back atmosphere and relaxed dress code, freestyle dining and variety of restaurants, as well as the entertainment and the wonderful staff and crew on board; obviously NCL is our cruise line of choice. In addition this was our 12th cruise to Bermuda (on various NCL ships) - we've cruised to Bermuda at this time every year for the past several years to celebrate our anniversary.

Embarkation: Easy as pie. Arrived by car to the cruise port at 11 a.m.; DH dropped off myself and DD with our luggage while he parked the car. By the time he walked back to meet us we were going in the door to the terminal building. After going through security we went immediately to the suites check-in line, upstairs to meet Bruce, our concierge, and were escorted to our cabin before 11:30 (which was not quite ready, however we were able to drop off our carry-on bags).

Cabin/Suite perks: We had originally booked a BD balcony (the extra-large one all the way aft on deck 10 port side) a year ago (and had sailed in that cabin last year), and added DD to our cabin about a month or so before the cruise; we knew we'd have plenty of room for the three of us. However, two or three weeks before the cruise we decided to call for an upgrade to allow more privacy and space, so we upgraded to Virgo suite #10018, an AC suite starboard side on deck 10. Read more