My inlaws decided they wanted to take a family vacation. Our travel group consisted of my inlaws, my family (husband, me, and DS12, DD9, DS6) and my brother in law's family (BIL, travel agent SIL, DS10 and DD7.) MIL and BIL's family have cruised more than once. My family had never cruised, and would have never planned a cruise on our own.

Embarkation was not too fun. It was fairly simple, but lines were looooong. My daughter had to go to the restroom, and she was stuck waiting until we had finished with the very long screening line. Then there was a line to check in and get our cards, and then onto the ship.

We headed straight to the pool to hit the flow rider. We stopped to get wristbands showing we had signed waivers and were the right height. We also signed up for private lessons later in the cruise. The two older boys waited in a fairly long line while the little ones hit the pool. Read more