We arrived in Galveston to very cold weather, so was indeed looking forward to getting on the ship. Embarkation went very smooth. We were 8 of a very small number of Canadians, so we had our own line to wait in. After reading some of the horror stories, everything went very smooth. I was with my two friends (one who had cruised many years before) so our excitement level was very high.
Once we got on and found our rooms, which were small but all we really needed,we headed off to explore our home away from home. I was indeed very impressed by the beauty of this ship. It was very hard to imagine at times that you were in the middle of the ocean.
The first few days our waters were pretty rough. Apparently we had 15 foot waves and 80 mile an hour winds, and boy could you feel it. Many were wearing the motion sickness tabs (which you can ask for at the main desk/free). A few injuries took place in these first couple days with some dancers and some passengers who had fallen. We actually never laughed so hard. We found it very amusing walking down the halls of this huge ship and trying at times not to fall down. I understand though that this was a very exceptionally rough ride. It is not usually like this. It did not turn me off cruising, and I hope it does not turn you off as well.