As a first time cruiser, I joined this site to get an idea of what it's like on the ship, what to expect, and what others found useful. I must say I gained valuable insight that helped me to have a more pleasant trip, and I hope that my review will help someone also.

My group consisted of 6 good friends. Five of us work together, the 6th is the girlfriend of one of my friends. Only one of us had been on a cruise before, and it was a different cruise line, so none of us were sure of what to expect. We booked online ourselves, and the information said we couldn't board the ship earlier than 1230. We wanted to get there early, so we actually arrived a little after 1100. To our surprise, we were able to board right away. My suggestion would be to keep a stash of $1 bills handy for tips. You want to tip the baggage guys right away, as you won't get the chance to see them again. I wasn't sure how much was enough to tip, so I just did what I saw everyone else do and gave them each $2. I only had 2 bags for them to handle, so I felt that was a fair amount.

Upon entering the building, there was a man standing there, calling for people to have their "blue tickets" ready. Of course, all we had was what came with our booklets, so we panicked. While the rest of my group searched frantically for something blue, I watched the other passengers handing them something white. I figured it out....he was saying "book tickets", but his accent made it difficult to decipher. This is where a little forewarning would have come in handy. I just didn't expect to encounter a language barrier right away. Relieved that we had what we needed, we went upstairs to get our room keys. The process went quite quickly, and I was impressed with how smooth it all happened. I only wish I could have spent a little more time looking around, taking in sights and sounds. I'm a "people watcher", and enjoy knowing I'm not the only one who feels a little lost. They have staff helping you along, getting you from one point to the next, which kind of made it feel a bit rushed, but not to the point of making it feel uncomfortable. Once we all got checked in, we were told our rooms wouldn't be ready until 2, but lunch was being served in the Windjammer Cafe, so that's where we headed, along with every other person boarding the ship. Read more