Background: 3 Generations family of 6 from Northern California. 3rd cruise for grandparents, 2nd for parents, 1st for kids.

We stayed pre-cruise at the Doubletree San Pedro. A very good decision. The park & cruise package they offer for about $220 includes warm chocolate chip cookies, a bottle of wine in the room, breakfast the next morning, and parking for the week. It is a nice hotel right on the water with a nice pool, hot tub, and restaurant. In the morning, they shuttled us over to the ship and basically dropped us off right in front.

Embarkation was a breeze. There were 2 other ships in port; the Island Princess and the Norwegian Star. We arrived at noon and were on the ship and in our rooms by 1:30. I walked on with 6 bottles of wine and a corkscrew without issue. Read more