Let's start with embarkation. When we were dropped off at the port (took a shuttle...$9.00 each), there was luggage staged on either side of the driveway. We weren't quite sure which one to go to, but ended up on the side where the entry to the terminal was. We were going to leave our larger bags and take our carry-on bags with us, but the gentleman standing there suggested we give him all our bags...along with a tip and he would "take care of us." So, we left all our bags with him. More about that decision later.

The first gentleman we encountered asked to see our passports and boarding pass. He then told us we would no longer need our boarding pass. The next person we encountered asked for our boarding pass. I said we were just told we no longer needed it and she asked who told me that and said she could not imagine why we would be told that. Anyway, her job was to point us towards line 1 or line 2. We got in line 1 and were soon waived over to get checked in. You can guess what the first thing was we were asked for...it was our boarding pass. We had arrived at the port a little after 11:30 p.m. and within less than an hour were on the ship. So to review, hold on to your boarding pass and getting on the ship is pretty swift...at least for us.

Everything started out the usual way. We headed to the buffet for lunch (and immediately ran into several folks we "met" on the Cruise Critic Roll Call for our sailing). Long story how we knew it was them. We then went exploring the ship, did the muster drill and then met up on the Serenity Deck for a sail away get together we had prearranged on our Cruise Critic Roll Call group. Read more