This was my first cruise, however, my boyfriend who traveled with me was on the same cruise in August 2015. Obviously, I cannot compare my experience to any others, so I'm writing my review based on my initial expectations and the information he gave me from his last cruise. We are in our early 30s and traveled as a couple.

We are from Toronto, so we braved the 8 hour drive and stayed at the Holiday Inn Express on Staten Island. We booked under the cruise package, which included parking for the week and a free shuttle to and from the port, which was very handy.

We arrived at the port around 10:30am, even though we were scheduled for 12:30 (we had no choice, since that was the only time our shuttle would take us) and we received no trouble for arriving early. Embarkation went fairly smoothly and we were on the ship approx. 45 mins later. As soon as we boarded, we were handed a free glass of champagne (they also were giving out mimosas, as an alternative). Read more