We cruised NCL from NY in mid November a couple years back. It was an incredible deal for our crew because of kids cruise free, open bar, etc promotion. Being able to drive and park our van was a huge savings on airfare and so much less hassle than flying with car seat age kids.
That said, it was an unseasonable cold snap so 4 of the 8 days we were in coats when on deck. It wasn't until we made it down to Port Canaveral that we were comfortable, and the next day before it was hot enough to want to swim.
If I had to do it again, I would really try to pony up the money for airfare so that we could cruise out of Florida. Going from NY is a lot more days at sea just to get you down towards the tropics. If it's a matter of NY or nothing, sure, NY was a fun time for a great price. But if I had more flexibility in my budget, I'd use it towards cruising from Florida over, say, a better room category.
NCL itself was lovely. One of the things to keep in mind is that, because there's no scheduled dining time, all of the meals outside of the buffet are a wait to be seated. I forget exactly when, maybe 45 days before your trip (?), you can reserve online which I'd highly recommend. There's no cost to cancel and we walked past big lineups waiting to be seated a few times because we'd booked ahead.
I did my research for that trip on the cruise critic forums, and would suggest you do as well. Just like how Dis had so much more combined knowledge than any one blog or website, the people there had lots of great ideas, suggestions, etc for cruising in general and with NCL specifically.
Awesome to hear we’ll be there at the same time! It’s my favorite time of year.
