First off, I want to tell you all how I got an incredible price for this cruise. There is a website called cruisecompete.com where you can go and fill in a form detailing which ship, room category, and sailing you are interested in and several cruise agents then come in and bid on your cruise, all trying to offer you the lowest price. I was thrilled with the friendly and prompt service that I received from them.

We stayed at the Hotel Galvez the night before we left on our cruise (we sailed Sunday 3/28/04). If you are looking for a great place to stay the night preceding your cruise the Hotel Galvez is a great place to stay as they not only allow you to leave your car in their fenced-in parking lot for the duration of your cruise but they also shuttle you to and from the cruise terminal (we were also very impressed with our room). If you do decide to stay there, the way to get the best rate is to go to wyndham.com and book your room online as their internet room rate is cheaper than booking through Orbitz, Expedia or Travelocity, etc...).

The Hotel Galvez shuttle dropped us off at the cruise terminal Sunday morning at 11:45 AM. We took our luggage over to the luggage drop-off area ourselves instead of paying a porter to do it as it was only about a 30 ft. walk from where the shuttle dropped us off. We only left our largest piece of luggage and carried the rest on ourselves. They allow you to carry on as much luggage as you want as long as it will fit through the scanner. Read more