My husband and I recently sailed on the Legend for our 15th anniversary cruise. It was our first cruise.

We flew into Tampa the day before, since we are from the west coast - stayed at the Hampton Inn Suites in Ybor City. This hotel was extremely clean and provided a free shuttle to the terminal in the morning. Also had free breakfast.

After a short but full shuttle ride, we waited in line for about 30 minutes before they opened the terminal for processing guests. It was hot, but we didn't mind and met some people in line that we were able to connect with throughout the cruise. Checking in was painless and we were in the first group to get on the ship - about 11:30. Read more