A first time cruiser cruising with those in the know! Right from the start I was not impressed with the way the prices bounced up and down hour by hour. But eventually we booked the trip - We planned our journey and worked ourselves up for the family event. (2yr to 73yrs - 9 passengers)
We choose a hotel out of town where we could leave the cars for the duration of the cruise - Dropped the party off at the port and then bussed back in - Certainly an option for us.
Checking in seemed a bit of a muddle clearly a few of the staff frustrated - But the lines moved reasonably well with a larger number of staff checking the passengers in.