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This was our second family spring break cruise out of Galveston but our first on RCCL. DH, I and our kids 17 and 14. Sunday we arrived at the EZCruise Parking lot about 11AM where we had a reservation. It easy to find, easy to park, got our stuff and on the shuttle within about 10 minutes. Arrived at the terminal and used the porters. Also easy. The line was outside the cruise terminal which made us nervous about a long wait but it moved quickly. We probably only waited in line an hour total. Much shorter than our last cruise. There was a computer glitch with the sign and sail passes. The kid's printed but the adults didn't. The agents were having to reprint them so it took an extra 20 minutes or so. A little while after us they shut down all the lines to reboot the system so I understand the people who arrived much after us had a much more significant wait but we seemed to get there just in time.
Got on the ship, our cabin was ready so we headed down to drop off our stuff before exploring. We were on Deck 6, inside cabins. One for us and one for the kids and they were as expected. We had lunch in the Windjammer and it was fine. The staff was very nice and helpful. The ship is clean and well laid out. We rarely felt crowded which wasn't true of our last cruise. Our luggage was there next time we went to our cabin. We met our attendant Erick who took great care of us. Muster drill was easy. Not what we experienced before. Our location was in one of the dining rooms so we sat there while the crew demonstrated the safety procedures. Much better than standing out on the deck in a life vest for an hour.
We had late seating which we liked. Had early seating last time and always felt rushed to get ready in time. Our waiter was pretty good but our assistant waiter was terrible. Slow with everything, had to ask several times for drinks. Couldn't get bread, glasses of tea were refilled with soda one evening, water took forever to be refilled. He was just bad. It happens. Our waiter did the best he could and was very accommodating considering the help he had. The food was pretty good. Several times we wanted to try an extra appetizer and our waiter had no problem with that. Several times he offered seconds to my son who was obviously enjoying his dish. Overall it was a good experience but definitely could have been better.
We loved the ice show, hated the adult comedian Max. He was just not funny. We enjoyed the game shows and the karaoke. The only other show we watched was the farewell show and we enjoyed it. The cruise director, Mike, was awesome! Loved him. Very funny and his staff was great too. The piano player was good, Synergy band was good. There were plenty of places to sit, enjoy a drink and people watch. We played craps one night in the casino and had fun but they only had one table. The casino seemed very cramped.
We were always able to find something we liked at breakfast and lunch in the Windjammer. We ate at Johnny Rockets once and it was really good. Definitely worth the extra $5. We also enjoyed the snacks in the Promenade that were served all day. Sandwiches, pizza, cookies and desserts.
Our kids spent a lot of time on the sports deck but wished there was more to do for their age in the evenings. They commented our last cruise was better for that sort of thing. We never had any trouble finding a chair on the deck. It was cooler and windy in the evenings so I was glad to have a sweater.
Disembarkation was a breeze. We carried our own bags off, left the ship about 8:30AM. There was no crowd, no frenzy, no line at customs. Our shuttle was waiting for us and we were in our car by 9:15AM. It couldn't have been easier.
Overall we had a very enjoyable vacation and would definitely do it again!
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