A pretty good cruise&pretty much sums up this review. My wife and I chose this itinerary and this ship due to the dates, the rates (very reasonable), the location (any port other than Miami or Ft. Lauderdale) -- we live in Orlando, and we had a good trip. Most importantly my son and his girlfriend had a good trip as this was their graduation present from high school.
We decided to go on fall break instead of summer due to the deals and no hurricanes. Not that Im opposed to going during hurricane season (I have two booked this summer), but for them, especially the girlfriend who had never cruised before, I wanted no surprises or upsetting events. The only down side to traveling this time of the year is the out of control spring breakers. But with some patience, some discretion about where you hang out, and the proper application of selective hearing techniques, you can survive a spring break cruise even if youre an older fuddy-duddy like me, and still have a good time.
The Port of Tampa is an efficient facility. We were dropped off by my brother who lives in Tampa, so I skipped the parking fees. If you have to leave your car, the parking garage is right across the street, and very convenient. We were prepared ahead of time with all of our documentation and we only had to wait about 40 minutes to board.