This was our first cruise...celebrating my birthday. We did not know what to expect or have anything prior to compare to. The staggered boarding times sure made things go fast and smooth for getting on the ship. Faster to the Fun would not have provided any better boarding experience in our opinion and saved us $50. We enjoyed all the activities on board the first day and couple evenings at sea, but being that drinking and partying is not our "thing", we ended up rather bored by end of the cruise...especially because weather was dismal and cold with choppy seas coming back, so we were confined to inside activities...mostly napping in stateroom. Food on the ship was awful!!! As another reviewer stated, do NOT eat the scrambled eggs! Nasty! Even the formal dining was not good, food was not hot and fresh and service was poor - we only went one night for that disappointing experience. We liked Guys Burgers and the deli...pizza was ok a time or two but wasn't anything special. We tried every single eatery option on the ship hoping for something good...and can say the last night they served little sirloin steaks on the buffet that you could cut with a butter knife and had decent flavor. That made us feel a little better that we were not totally skunked on finding anything worth a compliment. However, thank goodness for the ice cream machines 24/7! Service all over the ship was just okay. The shopping expert, Oliver, was rude and acted bored and somewhat annoyed with his job. Food service people cleaning tables smiled and were friendly and obviously were the few who worked very hard on the ship. We had an amazing room steward, Alex. We never wanted for a thing and he was always available. Our room was on 7th floor, Empress, overlooking the bow. We enjoyed the view. The room was small but very adequate for the 2 of us. Cozumel was nice...we rented a jeep from Ernestos and explored the island. That was the most entertainment bang for the buck the whole trip! Shopping on the pier and in the plaza felt safe and bargains were everywhere. The island was the only place we enjoyed good food and reasonably priced beverages the whole trip. This cruise can certainly be done with very little extra money required outside the price of the cruise and mandatory gratuities. It truly is less expensive than doing same amount of things, same amount of days, same amount of food and lodging here on land at home. We would recommend trying it at least once and see what you think! Might be the perfect thing for you and your family! We might try it again sometime...maybe.
We live close to Galveston and visit often. Lots to see and do! If you have time, take a side trip to Kemah!
We rented a jeep and did our own thing! Had a blast!