My husband and I are 32yrs old- we traveled with another couple- same age. We were all first time cruisers. Also we were with a large group from Denver that came aboard with a country band from a local club.

We drove from Denver- 17 hours- straight through! We did get a room at the Holiday Inn Sunspree in Galveston- we arrived there about 7am. We napped and then took a 1pm free shuttle to the ship. They let us park our car there free. The hotel was $95. We figured the parking, nap and shower was worth it. Embarkation was smooth- we chatted with those around us, lines moved quickly and we were on the ship having lunch by 3pm.

We had an inside stateroom- which we found to have ample storage and just fine- as we did not plan to spend any time in the room! Our luggage arrived piece by piece over the next few hours. One of our tags had fallen off- we went and collected that piece of luggage from the pursers desk before dinner. Read more