Background and Embarkation:

First off, we had a great cruise. To tell you a little about ourselves, my wife and I are both teachers in our mid forties. We traveled with our two sons, 10 and 13, along with my wife's parents, early seventies, very active, and two other couples we are friends with. We have cruised several times in the past, once on RCCL, once on Celebrity, twice on Disney, and once previously on NCL.

Embarkation was a breeze. We arrived early, about 11:40, there were very few people there. While there were not many baggage handlers, we had a short walk and checked our bags, went upstairs, checked in and got number 6 for boarding. They were already calling number 3. We were on the ship and in our stateroom by 12:10. We went to sign our kids up and make some restaurant reservations and spa appointment, then went to lunch. My in-laws arrived around 2 and told us they could not walk 10 feet without someone asking to help them. Read more