Overall this was a fabulous trip on a great ship with a superb crew cruising to wonderfully exotic locations.

First a bit about me, I'm a 'retired' male in my early 60's, travelling solo. This was my second cruise. I took a 7-day trip to Bermuda about 30 years ago and really didn't like it so never considered cruising again. That is, until I saw this itinerary to Hawaii and the South Pacific. For a year I thought about it, talked with friends, and, most critically, hung out on CruiseCritic.com, finally joining the Roll Call to ask dumb questions and learn more. With the encouragement of the Roll Call, I booked about 11 months before sailing. My nightly visits to the very active Roll Call continued to relieve my various concerns. Nevertheless, it wasn't until about the 3rd day of the cruise that my apprehensions totally disappeared and I realized that this was the way to go.

My flights across the country were uneventful and on-time. (I used up some frequent flyer miles left over from my working life to book first class on United to San Diego. When my first choice for lunch was rescinded, I found out that when you fly 'free' you are the lowest rung on the ladder.) I came to San Diego 3 days early out of concern for early March weather and, since I'd never been there, it gave me a chance to play tourist and catch up with some left coast family I rarely see. The room I booked at the Holiday Inn on the Bay, was adequate and had a perfect view of the cruise terminal across the street. The hotel shows signs of its age and seemed a bit expensive to me, but location was perfect. I waited about half an hour for the courtesy van pickup at the airport, but had been told in advance that it runs every 30 minutes and there's no need to call, so I must have just missed one. After a couple days of touring around San Diego, mostly in the pouring rain, it was a thrill to see that my ship had arrived early Monday morning. Read more