Executive summary: Arrived a day early, stayed at Country Inn & Suites (fantastic hotel), met cruise critic friends at Anthony's, went on cruise had fantastic time, all areas of cruise was fantastic Except the weather, it was much colder than we expected. Embarkation was crowded, but moved along well (1.5 hours between arrival and in cabin), stateroom was great, got a balcony for first time ever, and people are right, once you've had one, I know I will never want to settle for anything less, food was great, service from crew was outstanding, vista dining room was beautiful, slots were loose all week till last sea day then they were tight as could be. Ports were good, first time in Mexican Riviera and we did whale watching in Cabo, horses with Randi in Mazatlan, and finally did Zip line in Puerto Vallarta. Enjoyed two sea days on way back, and finally disembarkation was a breeze a bit confusing we were in the Second group called to exit (after the self disembark, where you carry ALL of your luggage with you), and there were long lines of people carrying their luggage with them in front of us, once they cleared out it was a breeze. (time from being called to standing outside waiting on taxi ½ hour. Flew home that day no problems at airport.

Book Portion:

Jan 19: Left our Chesapeake Virginia house at 5:30 am, to rain and 35 degrees.  I hadn't packed my jacket, but decided to pack it at the last moment do to the cold outside, have no intention of wearing it after we get on the plane to Atlanta/San Diego. Arrived at airport 1 ½ hours before flight, plenty of time to breeze thru security. However, my Dear Wife, who doesn't travel a lot, and hasn't met a stranger yet, decides to start talking to security while they are opening up her bag, and says, be careful it might explode, I new instantly that was the wrong thing to say. She didn't even realize it till I started saying she meant it is packed very tightly. He didn't arrest her, or take us anywhere, but he did give her a bit of a lecture, and made sure she understood that certain words should not be used around security. Read more