My Husband and I,my Sister and Brother-in-law went on our first 5 day cruise Jan, 26, 2008. We left out of New Orleans Saturday and came back on a Thursday. We drove from Arkansas to Baton Rouge, La that Friday and stayed the night there. Saturday we drove to New Orleans. I've been to New Orleans before several times, so I didn't do anything or go anywhere, except to the Port Of New Orleans to get on the ship. Everything went smooth getting on. They say not to get there until 2 hours before departure time, but we got there about 4 hours before, and I was glad we did, because there was already a long line. It probably took us 1 1/2 hrs to embark. So I would suggest to get there several hrs before departure. The parking area was very nice, I felt secure that our vehicle would be safe, and it was. It cost $70.00 for 5 days. The cruise over all was really fun. The ship was an older and smaller ship than most cruise ships, but it was big enough for our first time. It held about 2,100 passengers and 900 crew members. The crew was very nice and very helpful. We had a oceanview state room, which had two port holes, but it was nice, I could look out every morning and see something different everyday. Our bed was two twins pushed together, so there was a crack in the middle. That didn't bother me too much, because the bed and the sheets, and comforter was soft and comfortable. It was so much better than hotel beds. I slept good every night. The only thing that I didn't like about our room, was that it only had one outlet. I have to have atleast two for my curling iron and blowdryer, so that was kinda challenging. The food was good most of the time. We went to the Dining room 4 nights out of 5. The water didn't have a really good taste, so the tea was ok, and not sweet, so you had to sweeten it yourself. I come from the south, were it's against the law not to have sweet tea.haha! It was hard to get use to the constant swaying from side to side everyday, trying to walk and not run into walls was a challenge also. I felt kinda drunk and dizzy the whole time. I did use those sea band bracelets, and they seemed to work fine. The only day that it really bothered me was the last day at sea. The sea was really rough, and not only did it sway side to side, it rocked up and down all at the same time, so we stayed in our room most of the day, which was a bummer, because there were activities going on all day. Our first stop was at Progresso Yucatan, Mexico. I did not like it at all. I wouldn't recommend anybody going there. It was old, trashy, and it looked like slumville. We did an excursion at Progresso. We went to the Hotel Reef Yucatan, which was about 30 miles outside of Progresso. It was an all-inclusive beach resort break. That was really nice, all of our food and drinks were included. We had access to their pools and beach. We were only there for 3 hours. The beach was clean, the water was the still the Gulf of Mexico, so it wasn't that clear blue water. We didn't swim. We laid on the beach, played volleyball, and drank. It cost us $77.00 a person just to have a decent time for 3 hours. When I first booked our Cruise we were supposed to go to Costa Maya, but the Hurricane in August destroyed the port there. Why they sent us to Progresso, and not another destination I don't know. Progresso should not be a Port Of Call!!! Our second stop was Cozumel, Mexico. I loved it!!! The water was that beautiful clear blue. The thing that I loved about Cozumel, is that you could get off the ship and the walk from the pier to the town,which was a very short distance. You didn't have to take a bus to get to the town, like you did in Progresso. We didn't purchase an excursion from the ship, and I was glad we didn't. We walked around, went to shops, we stopped at Margaritaville and had nachos and a Margarita. We took a taxi, which was $13.00 one way for all 4 of us, to Paradise Beach, which was about 10 minutes away. It only cost $10.00 per person, and you had access to their lounge chairs, kayaks, snorkeling gear, they had a trampoline and a rock climbing wall in the water. Paradise beach was absolutely gorgeous. I had heard about it from Cruisecritics. It was so much prettier, better,and cheaper than the beach we went to in Progresso. We swam, snorkeled, tried to climb the rock wall, and just laid out and relaxed. It just didn't last long enough. I wish we would have had two days there. That's the only thing I don't like about a Cruise. YOu have set times when you can get off, and when you have to be back on the ship. The day we got off the ship to come back home went really well. We carried our own luggage off the ship. I highly suggest that. We got to disembark first, and it only took us about 40 minutes from the ship to getting to our vehicle. Very fast. Alot faster than it took to get on the ship. Over all, the whole experience was great. It went by fast. We had been planning it for 6 1/2 months and it was over with in 5 days. It has taken me about 4 days to get back to myself again. I still felt like I was swaying and dizzy even off the ship. Would I go on this same Cruise again? Probably not, unless there port of call was somewhere other than Progresso. I would love to go back to Cozumel again. We might just fly there and stay for a week, I don't know. That cruise was a one time only cruise. The next time I'll try a bigger ship,new destinations, and maybe 7 days.