It has been 20 years since I've been on a cruise and for my wife, two sons (13 and 10), and daughter (7) this was a first and a vacation that was truly memorable for each of us.

We spent a week on Amelia Island near Jacksonville prior to the cruise building our tans and relaxing on the beach. We rented a car through Budget and drove to Port Canaveral on the morning of the departure dropping the vehicle at Budget around 11:30AM. As one might imagine they were quite busy with three ships in port (Carnival, Disney, and RCCL) and we had to wait for the second van run. The line at the terminal was out the door but moving steadily and I think we were onboard around 1:00PM.

Our staterooms were available upon boarding and we had two connecting D1 staterooms (7514/7516) on the port side all the way forward. The curved glass enclosure on the balcony in 7514 was cool as we could actually look forward to see where we were going. I knew what to expect regarding the stateroom size from other posters, but what really impressed me was the efficient use of space within the stateroom. They really did a very nice job of utilizing the space in a very functional way with all kinds of storage in the cabinets and within the bathroom. Our stateroom attendant Sondra from Nicaragua was wonderful and after we got settled and left for lunch in the Windjammer she promptly cleared out the fridge and opened the balcony divider for us. Read more