Some of this may have been repeated in other reviews or the forums which were so helpful in helping us plan this vacation. We've cruised several times before and would rank this at the top of the list for a great experience. My. 16-year old son has been asking for the last couple of years to bring a friend on vacation with us and this year worked out for all parties. Our entire family knows my son's friend and his parents well so we were comfortable it would be compatible for all.

We drove from Atlanta to Port Canaveral (a hellish 10.5 hour drive) i75 had construction nearly the entire way so the planned 8 hour drive was significantly extended. We were very glad to see the Country Inn and Suites right as we entered Port Canaveral. There was a unique vibe to this property as their entire clientele is there for a cruise and they do a great job managing through the frenzy (a chocolate chip cookie at the front desk doesn't hurt either). We checked in and signed up for parking which is only $30 (cash only) for the week. I was a bit bummed to learn the earliest shuttle was at 1:30 as we like to get on the ship early to enjoy our fist day at sea. The room was perfect for our group- a bedroom with a door with 2 queen beds and a separate sleeper sofa in the living room so we could have privacy from the boys but not blow our budget on essentially a place to sleep (if you can) and shower. We ordered pizza in the room and watched the NCAA game. The pool area is lovely and 30 minutes in the hot tub erased the 10+ hour drive. We had the free breakfast the next morning (good selection- but a bit of a zoo) and had the front desk call us a cab at 9:45. We did find out after we called the cab that they would be able to work us in on the 10:30 shuttle, but the cab was already on the way and for $4 a person to the port it was worth it to us to cab it. My advice is if you don't like your shuttle time check in the AM to see if any slots open up. The cab driver(888 is the company) was awesome and provided some interesting history about Port Canaveral.

This is our first time embarking from Port Canaveral and it is very clean and comfortable. We were hoping to get on board by 11:00 but a surprise Coast Guard inspection delayed our arrival until noon. We saw one person carry on a 12 pack of water without issue. Under normal circumstances, it would have been a 45-minute process. As we were traveling with 2 minors one of the adults had to be assigned to each room on the records, but we obviously had the boys in one cabin and my husband and I in the other. We explored the ship and hit the Windjammer for a tasty lunch. At 1PM we could enter our cabin and we were at the pool at 1:15. We had inside cabins 1585 and 1583- quiet, mid ship and a short one flight up to the Windjammer and pool deck. Read more