We booked our cruise through the cruise line. They were super to work with in finding the best options to accomodate our trip. We purchased shore excursions, special dining, and a wine package the week before the cruise, which was a good idea.
We arose before daybreak and drove to Galveston, arriving shortly after noon. A friend recommended EZ Cruise parking rather than the Port Authority parking. We took the advice and highly recommend the EZ Cruise parking. The lot is secure, and the shuttle allows you to take all of your bags with you. The port authority parking requires the bags be dropped off at the port prior to parking which adds delay to the ship check-in process. The lines for the check-in were long and this process needs to be improved. Make sure to allow 1.5 hours for this. After completing check-in, we arrived at our stateroom where we had an adjoining room with our daughters. This was a great setup.
The entire staff throughout the cruise, without exception, was incredible! Each evening we dined in the formal dining room and enjoyed our table companions so much that we exchanged contact info. The food was great at not only the formal dining but also the casual buffet locations. The special serenade by the entire dining staff was a delight. We dined at Chops one evening and the food and staff were outstanding! The self-serve frozen yogurt at poolside was a nice touch. The on board pictures were great but overpriced. We purchased a few but would have purchased more had the price been reasonable. The on board entertainment (Ice Skating, Comedy, etc.) was really good but we had hoped for off Broadway type productions and there were none offered. Make sure to bring plenty of suntan lotion with you before boarding the ship. It is available for purchase on the ship and at the ports but really expensive.
We were on Deck 7 with an interior room overlooking the Promenade. This was a nice location but a bit noisy during evening events. We enjoyed the events so it wasn't a problem.