Background and Arrival: We are a family of 6, with kids 12 to 19. Last two March breaks cruised RCI. Living in Ontario and driving to Florida to make the vacation affordable the last two years, wanted to try a shorter drive but still get some warmth. So we drove into the New York area Thursday for some outlet shopping, stayed in Malwah, and then drove to NY on Friday for dinner and a Broadway show. Expensive but worth doing once. Stayed at Eastgate Towers in a one-bedroom suite for under $300 a night....cheap but adequate accommodation in a decent Manhattan location for a family of 6 in NY.
Embarkation: Arrived at 11:30 to port chaos. However, once at the pier, baggage handling and parking (rooftop: $180 for the cruise) was efficient. One son had a broken leg and required wheelchair assistance for boarding.....one benefit of traveling HAL is that are well set up for mobility assistance. Helpful, friendly staff, although the check-in agent seemed overwhelmed by the numbers in our family...nevertheless any glitches were cleaned up efficiently later by the ship's front desk staff. We were on board and having lunch before 1:00. Rooms were available shortly after that.
Cabins: We had two on main deck, an outside for ourselves (great view of the sea spray!) and an inside across the hall for the kids. The inside was the largest we've experienced, with for the first time enough room and storage space for 4. The sofa-bed though was not that comfortable. The outside cabin was also spacious and well laid out. Comfortable bedding. Room steward was excellent.