We (Deb and Jack from Massachusetts) cruised from Boston to St. John, New Brunswick on June 28, 2012. This was a 4 night cruise. Our cruise experience has been with Royal Caribbean (7), Celebrity (2), Norwegian (2), and Carnival (2). We always get a balcony cabin when we cruise.

Embarking (getting on the ship): Extremely smooth. We got to the Black Falcon Pier at around 11:30 a.m. and there were no lines. It was quick! We were allowed on the ship at this time even though sail time was scheduled for 4:30 p.m. The ship actually did not depart until around 5:30 p.m. Some people had been notified in advance to arrive later at the pier. Although we were not notified, it would not have made a difference to us anyway. We have never had a problem when we arrive at 11:30 a.m. no matter what time the ship is scheduled to depart.

We had planned ahead to get together with a few of our new Cruise Critic friends at sail-away. It was disappointing that only a few of us showed up. This rarely happens, but it does, I find that when there are not a lot of people speaking up on the CC boards to begin with, this will likely be the result. Something new was that on the Carnival daily schedule, there was a "cruise critic meet and greet" scheduled daily. We went one time to see what it was all about and nobody was there. If you are interested in getting together with your fellow cruise critics, I would say that's how it can be done regularly. It's already on the schedule, at least on Carnival. Read more