First time cruise with our 10 yr old daughter, my parents, my wife's parents and friends with their 10 yr old daughter.

We went to Charleston the day before because we love Charleston and enjoy the old city and many historical sites there. We decided to stay at a hotel in N. Charleston on their "Park and ride" rate. We found out that we could park but had to pay for our own ride. At $100 the hotel was nice, but I could of stayed in an area closer for the same price and parked at the terminal for the price of the round trip cab.

On the day of embarkation, we got to the port around 1130 and had a very easy check-in with the easy pass filled out. We were on the ship by around 12-1215, but could not go to our room until about 130 and had all of our luggage by about 4. We went to the windows on the sea to have lunch, a lot of people to eat at one area at one time, but the food was good. We finally got to our room and went to the deck for leaving the port. Dinner was wonderful, don't be afraid to order several starters and entrees. Our room was great, but a little tight with the extra bed for our daughter. No big deal, we were not there much. Our room was kept very clean and towels were replaced after each use no matter what time of day. We also tried to guess which towel animal our room tenat was going to leave that evening when the beds were turned down and the next days schedule was left in the room. Great first day. Read more