We did a lot of research before we left on our first cruise which did help out. Embarkation was a little crazy. There was an issue regarding luggage drop off. The porters and a Royal Caribbean representative were arguing when there was a backup with getting the luggage into the terminal. Apparently their was a hold up with the cruise that was disembarking at the same time we were embarking. We were a little uncomfortable leaving our luggage there when the two were arguing. The porter was warning us not to leave the luggage and the RCI representative assured us he would make sure it got in the terminal from the sidewalk. We stayed until we saw our luggage on a cart and on it's way into the terminal. One thing we learned is that you drop off your luggage outside and then you go inside to check in. The signs weren't clear where to go and we weren't the only ones to drag all our luggage into the building to be told to drag them all back out. Getting through to the check in point was not problem. We did on-line check in. Not sure if that sped up the process or not. Once we got on the ship all of the employees were extra welcoming. We went to check out our room and then off to the Windjammer for lunch. So much food to choose from. I will say the food was good but I wasn't overwhelmed with the quality. There is definitely an excellent variety and you do have healthy choices. Our room was small but nice. They do have a lot of room in the closet and the desk area. We actually discovered more cabinets on our last day. I'm sure our stateroom attendant would have loved if we would have had more of our stuff in those unknown cabinets. We overpacked slightly so we had a lot of things on the desk top and couch. Oh well...live and learn. Our stateroom attendant Ziggy was great. I was amazed the first time I actually saw him (day 2) and he addressed me in the hallway by my name. I couldn't figure out how he knew who I was. Our experience in the dining room was awesome. We were seated at a table of strangers but by the 2nd day we were all friends. Even if we weren't hungry we all made sure we made it to dinner at night so we could enjoy each others company. We had a mini-golf tournament our last day on ship. Fun. That was probably the neatest thing about this cruise--Meeting so many people from all over the nation. Our waiter was Derrick. He was excellent. We all wanted to take him home with us. The elevators on board are really slow so plan on doing alot of stair climbing or waiting for elevators. That was ok with us. We figured we were burning the excess calories we consumed during the day. Clothing - I wasn't really sure what to bring. We had two formal nights so that was not a problem. I wore a cocktail dress and my husband had his suit. The other nights we could wear jeans if we wanted. I had packed several outfits (slacks/blouses) that I really didn't need after all but I did wear them since I brought them. Another review advised to bring 2 swim suits with you which I did and I used them both. The one from the beach day in Grand Cayman was full of sand so I wore the other one on the ship. They don't have hair conditioner so make sure to bring that with you. They had so much to do on the ship. We would look at the schedule each day and make our plan so we didn't miss anything. Ice skating and mini-golf is a must. My husband enjoyed playing basketball. The cruise director Mike was great. Mike and his staff did an great job with all of the activities on board. The parades were fun. Disco night was groovy (ha ha). We didn't relax much because we didn't want to miss anything. Internet access - you can pay by the minute or get a discount by getting different packages. We wanted to be able to communicate with our kids back home so we purchased the 60 minute plan. We brought our lap top but in the end didn't need it because there were plenty of computers in the library to use. Disembarkation was crazy. There was fog so we couldn't get to Galveston until early afternoon. We did the express departure (take your own luggage off). Due to the delay it was a little crazy/crowded in our departure area. We sat in that location from about 7:00 am until we got off around 2:00 pm. They did serve lunch in the Windjammer and Promenade Cafe but the lines were HUGE. Once they opened the doors we got out pretty easily. It was a little difficult hauling our luggage out but definitely worth it. We walked past a very long line of people who didn't do the express departure. I'm sure they were there at least an hour longer waiting to get their luggage. I walked over to the parking lot to get the car and drove up to the terminal to get my husband and luggage.