First, we are a family of four with 8 and 12 year old girls. This was our first cruise. Cruisecritic.com provided me so much information that improved my cruise experience, I feel compelled to write this review to do my part for the community.

General: The ship was pretty full. The cruise director said we had about 750 kids on board (winter break), but it didnt feel like that many kids were running around. This was not a cruise for people looking to pick up pretty people. The vast majority of passengers were middle-aged and overweight (like me). The benefit to this (for the passengers, not the cruise line) was less drinking and very few drunks misbehaving.

Pre-board: Heres a little tip, we flew the redeye from Seattle to Miami (only direct flight) which landed at around 6:30 am on cruise-day. What to do with the time before boarding? Take the free Marriott shuttle to the Airport Marriott, have breakfast and then lounge by the pool until you take a cab to the port. I caught a nice nap while the kids played in the pool. This was not sneaky, we called the Marriott in advance and they approved this request. Read more