Ok, so many of the things that make a cruise perfect worked in our favor...great weather and fair seas, so the rest was just icing....
That said we went with the Liberty sailing out of Miami because it offered an additional port, Grand Cayman, at a lower price than the closer sailing out of Galveston. We had Southwest miles so airfare was not a factor. Call me crazy but we flew day of cruise arriving at noon, it is only a 30 minute trip to Miami with the toll roads and we booked transfers thru Elite Shuttles ($95 each way plus tip for 4, a cab is $70 and the line can be long on cruise day), they were perfect, called when we landed and pickup was curbside. We made it to the terminal at 1:15p, embarking was the smoothest yet, literally 30 from arrival to walking on the Lido deck.
First time on this ship class and liked it immediately, big but not TOO big, easy to get around, We had balcony cabins on the Lido deck, 9230 and 9266, heart of the action and yet quiet (another great recommendation from Pete!). Cabins were very comfy, plenty of room for a couple and a balcony is pretty cool even though we do not mind interior. Mini fridge we could keep our own drinks in, small flat screen TV which we used to see ship's position but otherwise not use, built in room safe accessed with Sail and Sign card kept all the valuables safe (I left an extra $5 a day for room steward which was not touched the first 2 days till I explained it was for him!).
First time on this ship class and liked it immediately, big but not TOO big, easy to get around, We had balcony cabins on the Lido deck, 9230 and 9266, heart of the action and yet quiet Cabins were very comfy, plenty of room for a couple and a balcony is pretty cool even though we do not mind interior. Mini fridge we could keep our own drinks in, small flat screen TV which we used to see ship's position but otherwise not use, built in room safe accessed with Sail and Sign card kept all the valuables safe (I left an extra $5 a day for room steward which was not touched the first 2 days till I explained it was for him!).