Embarkation:

Having driven in the night before, we arrived at the ship a little after 11:00. Parking was very easy. We pulled up to the curb, the porter took our bags, showed us where to park, and we took an elevator right up to the ship. There was very little waiting at security and check in, and we were shown to a holding area at 11:30. We boarded the ship at noon. Our cabin was ready at 1:30 and I think our luggage arrived around 4:00.

Cabin: We had a balcony cabin on the Lido deck. We were quite surprised when we saw there were only 2 beds and there we were 3 adults sharing the cabin. When I called guest services to inquire about it I was told that we would either use the sofa or they would bring in a rollaway. The sofa would have worked if one of us was a child, but it was no where near long enough to accommodate an adult. There was also no place to put a rollaway bed. Our cabin steward consulted with the head of housekeeping and the solution was to dismantle the sofa, remove the cabin door at the hinges so the couch could be taken out of the room, and a rollaway bed brought in. This worked out fine, but we wished it had been ready earlier. Our steward also provided us with an extra chair for our balcony. The counter space in the bathroom and in the bedroom was much more than I have seen on other ships. This is the only cruise I have been on where there was not a refrigerator (mini-bar) in the cabin and I really missed it. Read more