About US-We are a group of 7. My husband and I, 4 children, ages 9, 9, 13 (our kids) and my 14 year old niece. We also brought my Mother in-law. We are easy to please people and we have a great time anywhere we go. Pre-Cruise-We flew into LAX the day before and pre-arranged for Sky-Limo to pick us up at the airport (and take us back to the airport after the cruise). The price was VERY reasonable for 7 people. The cost was $64 each way. The driver on the way to the hotel was kind enough to stop at a drug store so we could stock up on sodas and waters. We arrived to our hotel, The Crowne Plaza and easily checked in. I bid at Priceline and got the rooms (we had 2) for $65 each. The hotel was beautiful and had a shuttle to take you right to the port in the morning (first shuttle goes out at 10:30am).

Embarking-We arrived at the port at 10:45 and were checked right in. We got in the Suite/Platinum and Diamond line (we had a Grand Suite, and we are Platinum) and waited in the private departure room. They had cookies, coffee, tea and water. We boarded the ship around 11:45. The line was smooth and we skipped the picture line and went right onboard. We went to the Windjammer for lunch. The food for lunch was great with a pretty good variety. My husband and I went down to the dining room to fix our dinning problem...they had one of our kids at another table. We spoke with Amid and he fixed the problem right away. He is an amazing person (more on him later).

The Ship-First impressions of the ship were...This ship is in great shape for her age. It is very clean and you always see people cleaning the carpets, shining the brass, cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning. Anyone who has time to inspect carpets, drapes, or any other small normal wear and tear problems is not having a good enough time. We were so busy on this ship we didn't have time to look for small imperfections. Enough said about that;) The best place was the adult solarium pool. We relaxed in there a lot. The pool was warm (it takes a lot to get me into a pool) and the hot tubs were hot!! The food at the solarium cafe was good. They had burgers, hot dogs, fries (yes, the fries really are the best!) and cookies. The internet cafe was nice. I used it once and the speed was really good (I brought my laptop for nothing...I will never do that again). The library was cozy as well as the card room. The piano bar was great. Read more