Our family of five spent the night in Galveston the night before the cruise. Also going on the cruise were my in-laws. The shuttle from the hotel to the cruise was quick and we got through the check in fast. There was very little waiting, we had our set sail forms ready, checked in and went to take that wonderful picture of you before getting on the boat. They had a table for the kids information and placed a wrist band on each child with the muster station on it for emergency purposes. We were on the boat about 12:30 and couldn't go to the room until 1:00 so we checked out the buffet.

We had a family suite which had the queen bed, a separate area with bunk beds and a fold out couch. There was plenty of space for all our items to be stored. The beds were a little low for the suitcases to be pushed under, but we managed. Our cabin steward, John Bernard, was great! There was always ice in the room, always clean and the kids loved the towel animals. There was one that my 4 year old called a little monster and she slept with him until the last night when he disappeared. We would leave the cabin and John would be there cleaning it or turning down the beds within 30 minutes. Half the family celebrated birthdays while on the cruise and he always said Happy Birthday to them.

On the subject of the birthdays...I ordered a cake for my twins to be delivered to the room on the 12th (their birthday) because they would not be eating dinner with us in the evening. They delivered the cake on the 11th. So, we called for them to pick it up. The card on the cake even said to deliver it on 12th. They finally picked it up about 6 hours later and delivered the same cake the next day. It looked horrible, all melted and not very appetizing. So my husband said he wanted a new one. My mother-in-law had also ordered a cake to be delivered at lunch. They did not have this correct. We got the head waiter over and they ended up bring two cakes for lunch, one chocolate and one vanilla. Then, 2 days later, my husbands birthday came and I had ordered a cake for the table and my mother-in-law ordered a cake for the table at dinner before the cruise left and they almost forgot to bring the cake altogether. And I know they had the reservations for all 4 orders because I saw them with the head waiter. Read more