We drive to Galveston so we had no issues with flight transfers. There were some issues with using the Port of Galveston parking when we cruised a few weeks prior. It was overloaded probably due to many local hotels still being out of business after Hurricane Ike (they provided free parking for guests who stayed the night before the cruise). The parking situation was extremely low stress but also note the Carnival ship that is normally there on Sundays also was out at dry-dock somewhere so the number of cruisers at that port was probably cut by 30%.

Embarkation was very easy but we arrived by noon and due to Platinum status were able to go to the shorter line. We walked on the ship by 1pm just as the staterooms opened up to guests. The entire process was entirely flawless. We book inside cabins so that we may cruise more frequently. Our cabin was entirely as expected for that category. We had my brother along so one of the upper bunks in the room was in use. Our cabin attendant Dean was not only exceptionally attentive but also quite cheerful.

One of our favorite things about cruising is the sit-down dinner experience. We were assigned to table 268 which is really kind of off the main dining room in a side room, which was nice, quieter though I did notice the food would start to get a little cool due to the distance from the kitchen. Our wait-person was Radostina and she was wonderful, but. . . Read more