Let me begin by telling you what a hassle it was to get to the port in Galveston! Never again will we take a cruise out of this port. Our flight from White Plains to Atlanta was canceled by Delta due to the weather so the airline gave us no other option than to fly LaGuardia to Minneapolis (overnight) then onto Houston (another overnight) before we took Galveston Limousine Service the morning of the cruise to Galveston. $55 per person each way, plus gratuity. We were disappointed that we missed Mardi Gras in Galveston, but once we drove down to the port and saw the city, we realized that we didn't miss much.

Because the ship came late into port, we were delayed with embarkation. It seemed as if the cruise staff had never worked a cruise embarkation before since it was chaotic -- we arrived at noon but were not on board the ship until way after 3:00 pm. So many long lines!

Our cabin, #7587, was a promenade room, which we had booked on the Independence of the Seas, so we knew exactly what to expect. The only problem was that the refrigerator did not work and was removed on Day 5 (but never replaced) so we never had a refrigerator to store any drinks or snacks. Our stateroom attendant, Clever from Peru, was absolutely amazing. He was certainly one of the best staff members we encountered. He was always willing to go the extra mile for us. Read more