As far as demographics, I am a 25 year old male, no children from the northeast. I traveled on a 4-night cruise with my girlfriend from Miami to Key West and Calica, Mexico. It was the first cruise for both of us.

Embarkation:

Getting on the ship was much easier than expected. We took a cab from the airport ($24 flat fee) and it took about 10  15 minutes. We carried our own bags onto the ship because we intentionally packed only carry-on luggage. I would urge you to do the same because all the luggage handlers do is leave the bags unattended outside your room - Seems a little unsafe and unnecessary to me. The process was easy. All we had to do was show our ID and birth certificates, and I gave them my credit card for our Sign and Sail card. You can put cash on it and use it as a debit card of sorts too if youd like. We had to walk a ways to get on, but the only holdup was the line for pictures, of which you cant avoid. The gentleman who gave us our room keys was very courteous and explained everything (hint: leave the key in the door as you open it!) Once we walked onto the ship it was a quick picture (more of a mug shot, but its for security reasons) and then we were on. We walked right to our room and started unpacking. We were given a not that told us we were too early to get into our rooms, but the room was all set when we arrived. 1:00pm is the official check-in time  we were there at 12ish. The only downside is that at 4pm it was mandatory that every passenger put on a life vest and sit in their assigned station (ours was the Palace Theater) and listen to some instructions, then head out to the deck and stand in line for 15 minutes straight. Luckily I had a few beverages in me and we happened to be placed right in front of a bench, so I just sat down. I guess this would all come in handy if we were sinking, but at the time it was just annoying. Once it was over it was forgotten about. Read more