This was the 12 night repositioning cruise from Boston to Fort Lauderdale. Ports were Bermuda (two days), San Juan, St. Thomas, Aruba and Curacao.

Embarkation: We had spent the night at the Hampton Inn in Revere because they have a park and fly package that includes up to two weeks of parking for $127. My husband ran into a TA in the lobby who had a group going on our cruise. They had arranged for a small bus to take them to the pier at 11am and they happened to have two extra seats because of a cancellation and they offered to let us ride with them. It took 5 minutes to get to the pier, two minutes to get new tags for our luggage (we had changed cabins 5 days before the cruise) and there were two people in front of us in the set sail pass line. We were ON THE SHIP by 11:15!! And every single person we had contact with, had a HUGE smile on their face.

Ship: We had sailed only once before, last year on the Explorer. I was immediately taken with all the glass on this ship. I love how you can see the ocean from almost everywhere on the ship. We had a D1 cabin on the 9th deck. Luggage fit under the bed. Plenty of room for everything. We asked our steward for an eggcrate for the bed after the first night. If you like very firm mattresses, you'll be happy. Our steward was great. Our room was neat as a pin every day. We had towel animals many nights. He always called us by name when he saw us in the hall. Read more