My spouse and I had originally booked this cruise as a late celebration of our 40th anniversary. As it turned out, we celebrated it in Sep/11 with a cruise to Alaska on board the Diamond Princess. But, no matter, as we knew we wanted to get away from the typically cold Canadian weather in January and this cruise was a good mid-winter break.
Getting There
We flew from our home gateway of Winnipeg to San Diego via Denver the day before the cruise. We are always concerned about being storm-stayed. It was unusually cold the day we left but quite mild in Denver when we changed planes and very pleasant when we arrived. We arrived just after lunch and took the shuttle to the hotel. It's a bit of hike from the baggage carousels, up to the pedestrian walkway and down to the shuttle/taxi area and it can be crowded with all the shuttles, buses and taxis jockeying for a spot; just keep an eye peeled for your hotel's shuttle, if you are using one.
Port side location on Dec 8 (Navigation), just around the corner from the forward elevators. Roomy, well equipped, lots of closet and storage space, large bathroom, dual sinks, whirlpool tub and separate shower, Elemis toiletries, robes supplied, fridge with mini-bar, large balcony equipped with lounge chairs, ottomans and regular chairs/dining table. This room is located directly under the port side Lido deck under the area where the ping pong (table tennis) tabvles are located. This made for noisy afternoons and evenings with the sound of guests moving back and forth around the tables as they played - very annoying.