We learned our lesson in the past and always fly out the day before the cruise. We splurged for our anniversary and upgraded to business class. That is the way to fly and dread going back to coach. Our flight was on time and we took a cab to The Intercontinental. The hotel was very nice with a fabulous pool. The hotel was pretty expensive but we saved $100 booking through priceline.

The next morning we had breakfast at a bagel shop across the street. The portion was pretty big and the price was right. We walked the beach, went for a swim and then got ready for our cruise. We took a cab to the Pan Am Pier and arrived at 10:45. We were among the first in line. More and more people started to show up and we were told that they would open the doors at 1:00. OMG!! Last year they let us on when we arrived and we were on the ship at noon. Not this time. We were told that immigration was taking their sweet time so we had to wait and wait and wait. They finally opened the doors at 1:00 where we had to sit and wait in a holding room. They started taking guests with disabilities and then priority. We were in the first row so we didn't have to wait much longer. We got our cruise cards and then had to wait in the security line. It wasn't even open. They finally opened it and it moved pretty slowly. I think it took us 3.5 hours to get on the ship.

We went to our room to drop off our carry ons and put our valuables in the safe. Our cabin steward Grace greeted us by our names. Wow, talk about service. She was a sweetheart and made sure we had everything we needed. We headed up to the Lido deck, got some cocktails and then toured the ship. It was very similar to the other ships we were on so it didn't take long to find our way. We made a reservation for Sabatinin's, toured the spa and got a slice of pizza from Prego. It was delicious thin crust pizza. The ship was beautiful and the staff was very friendly. Everyone greeted us as we walked by. Read more