I booked our cruise online last November. About a month ago I started looking for reviews in anticipation of our journey. What I read scared me to death so I entered this vacation expecting the absolute worst and had prepared my family for that. I was wrong.

Embarkation-we decided to drive to New Orleans since there were 4 of us and the drive was only about 14 hours. I drove it straight through without relief and had done so before several times as we have friends in New Orleans so this was no big deal. We got to the pier at about 10:30 and parked our car for the week for $98.00. A porter took our bags from the parking garage and that was great. We checked in and was directed to a waiting area as it would be about another 1 1/2 hours before boarding would begin. The wait wasn't bad at all. I came prepared with a crossword puzzle book and bottled water. A sign in table was set up in the waiting area for Kids Crew since there would be over 500 children on the ship. And I thought I was the only person to have the idea of taking the kids on a cruise for spring break! The process was quick and they even served yummy cookies and iced water during the wait. We boarded promptly at 1:00 and were told we could enter our cabins at 2:00. During that hour, I tried to upgrade to a room with a view and could not because the ship was completely full. I also purchased a teen passport which was a book for $34.50 and it entitled you to 20 drinks anywhere from sodas to virgin strawberry daiquiris. I highly recommend this purchase. We also went to Windows for a nice sit down lunch. It was almost empty. I had a club sandwich with chips and salsa. It was delicious. I was already starting to doubt the validity of the reviews I had read.

Cabin-When we got to our room at 2:00 our luggage was waiting for us.I was so surprised that clothes and shoes for 4 people for 7 days fit with room to spare. There was lots of storage and you could even fit the empty suitcases under a bed. The room steward introduced himself to us and I requested a foam topper for each bed. It was delivered promptly. Everything was clean but I sprayed the whole room with Lysol I had packed because of the norovirus stories I had heard about. No outbreaks happened for the entire cruise. The four of slept in the inside cabin with no problem. 2 beds, 1 fold down from the wall bed and a chair that folded out into a bed. It's true that there are only a few tv channels but the ones that we got were ones we enjoyed. There was always a movie on and then of course the cartoon network. Ports of call Honduras-I had read a review that talked about how terrible this port was. Once again, I found that review to be false. We booked all of our excursions through the ship and the tour we took in Honduras was an island tour. It included going to an iguana refuge which was super cool and anyone would enjoy it. At the end they took you to a shopping area which was next to a beach. The husband and kids ran to the beach to dip their feet in while I waited in the shopping area. They still talk about how fun that was. I am sad that I missed it. The people are nice there and the landscape is beautiful. True, it is a poor country. I found the culture rich though. If you want to get your passport stamped you will find immigration inside a trailer on the pier and they are eager to make you feel welcome. Read more