We embarked on Sunday, and actually sailed out of the Port of Galveston on Tuesday ... but in spite of the fog delay and subsequently missing Roatan, we still had a terrific time on this cruise. We made our other two ports, Costa Maya and Cozumel, exactly on time.

Pre-cruise: We drove to the port and again stayed at the Hilton, which offers free parking during the cruise and a shuttle to and from the port. Their shuttles were booked up by the time we arrived at 8 p.m., though. (We did use their shuttle back after the cruise.)

Embarkation: took a taxi from our hotel to the port, arrived shortly after noon. Very short lines, but maybe a bit more slow-moving than usual. (Training new agents? Also very few desks were manned at first, but then, we were early. More agents were arriving as we checked in.) Read more