Stayed at HoJo in Tampa, terrible location $65 incl. cont'l breakfast. Visited Tampa area beaches, nice. Check in went smoothly with SetSail Pass. Happy with rooms. Interior boys room 5 doors down from ours(ladder for bunk in the way). Our OV rm had dirty windows. Boys 11, 14 & 15 are cartoon fanatics and I had to unplug their cable to keep them out of room. 11 yr old did not want to be with 9 yr olds and did not do AO until 3rd night. 15 yr old missed the gathering the 1st night and didn't hook up with any particular friend but didn't complain either. MOM's 4 RULES: Rule #1 Don't lean over the rails for any reason. #2 Only use room for sleeping and taking a shower. #3 Have dinner as family together and try new things to eat whenever possible #4 Have FUN! Only rule #2 broken on 1st night-removed cable cured that!
DAY 1 -- Worried about Tropical Storm Gamma needlessly, Captain knows how to get around them. Too tired to catch Late Night Comedian which I heard was good.
DAY 2 -- At sea day. Meet at Meet N Mingle with fellow Cruise Critics. Our table mates turned out to be some. Great Waiters and Staff. They knew what we liked automatically by the 3rd day. All the food in the Romeo & Juliet dining room was terrific except for Thanksgiving Turkey dinner. Lobster night was great. Extra food whenever we wanted. Made a point to eat in the Windjammer on the mornings of excursions to get off the boat as in port not long enough but understand need not to tender at night. Family brought exercise outfits but only used 1 day as too busy later. Bingo cost about $25-$35 each time(little pricey but fun). Never won but table mates did 1st day $175. Last day jackpot is free cruise. Shuffleboard, rock climbing & ping pong was great, but miniature golf needs serious repair job. Kids still had fun. Missed the Capt'n Welcome Aboard. Film to Footlights Show was boring. I liked the dancers but singers put me to sleep.