I'm from Bethlehem GA and this was my first cruise experience. I shared this trip with my husbad of 12 years as well as his 15 year old brother and our 12 year old neice. We decided to drive down to Cape Canaveral Florida and stay at a hotel the night before embarkation so that we were good and rested for the first day. The hotel was Country Inn & Suites by Calson located at 9009 Austronaut Boulevard, Cape Canaveral and they offered a Park and Cruise deal which gave us a Family Suite which included a semi-private kids room furnished with a set of bunkbeds, a third twin bed and a 32 inch flat screen mounted on the wall. The suite and the week of parking for our truck at the hotels extended parking lot was only $152.00 after taxes. This price is well worth the ammenities (which includes a clean handicap accessible pool with lift, whrlpool with handicap lift, a satisfying breakfast and a roundtrip shuttle ride) and the parking considering you will have to pay at the least $15.00 a day for parking at the cruise terminal.

Even as a first time cruiser I found the check in to be very smooth and painless. We showed our proof of identity (photo ID's & birth certificates for the adults and just a birth certificate for anyone under 15) and took a seat for roughly 15 minutes prior to being boarded on the ship.

Our bags were tagged by Royal Caribbean employees and we did not see them again until we were able to get inside our room a 1:30 p.m. This was a bit inconvienent because they refused to check our garment bag due to it not closing on the bottom. We had to carry the garment bag around with us for 2 hours until we were allowed into our stateroom. Regardless of his we made our way to the Windjammer Cafe` for some lunch. Pleasantly surprised with the food options on the first day at this buffet but as the week went on the food started to morph into a left over surprise. Some of the different dishes were combined to make a new "salad". Though I can appreciate not being wasteful, some things are not very good when combined 2 days after original preparation. With that being said, I cannot say enough wonderful things about the main dining room "My Fair Lady". The food, environment and the staff produced an experience I would comfortably pay $100 or more for in an Atlanta resturant. The waiting staff (specifically Nilesh and is his assistants) at table 195 was entertaining, informative and the best server I have ever had. His recommendations were perfect, his accomodations were gracious and I cannot imagine a better experience. Had we known that it would be so great we would have went the first night as well but we did dine in the main dining for the remainder of the cruise. However breakfast was always taken in the Windjammer because they did boast an omelete station, pankcakes and thick & fluffy waffles. More tha adequate breakfast experience. Read more