The three of us have all cruised before, and had some expectations. Many of which were met, some of which were not.

I'll start with the really obvious, which was also what I was forced to listen to over and over again... if you book a cruise out of the Northeast in December it is ridiculously foolish to believe you're going to have smooth sailing to warmer water. Within the first 12 hours, people were complaining and trying to get a refund because they apparently forgot they were on a ship in December in the north Atlantic. People's unreasonable expectations regarding the weather during this trip is the one major drawback. It's also a recurring theme.

Getting to the port was incredibly easy. It's right off 95, you really can't miss it. Going through the various stopping points for luggage tags, in line for dropping off luggage, paying for parking, and so forth was fairly easy. Read more