Just returned from the 4th of July Getaway to Halifax and Boston, what a great trip!! Only a few small hiccups, which I will detail later.

Embarkation: We drove from upstate NY to Brooklyn (6 hrs)with plans to park in the lot at the cruise port. When we neared the port, about 11:30am, there was a HUGE traffic jam of cars, taxis and such trying to drop off passengers. We waited about 1/2 hour to approach the curbside drop-off which was completely chaotic. Cars were double and triple parked trying to unload people and luggage. There were a few staff people trying to keep it moving, but it was still frustrating. My husband and son took the luggage, which was quickly loaded by staff onto a cart, and I parked the car. Once we all got inside the terminal, the boarding went quickly and we were on the ship in about 20 minutes. We were greeted by crew in the main lobby and given directions to our room. We were on deck 9, and the wait for an elevator was very long, so we took the stairs and found our way to our room without a problem. Our luggage arrived shortly after, we were exploring the ship when it came.

Room: We booked an inside cabin and I chose deck 9 because, with the exception of four inside rooms, it is entirely Queens Suites. The four inside rooms are tucked away on a private hall in the front of the boat just outside the Commodore Club. It was incredibly quiet and a great location by the "A" stairs. We loved hanging out at the Commodore Club and could easily go down two flights to deck 7 to go outside or go to the buffet. The beds were so comfortable, even the drop down bunk my son slept on. There was plenty of storage for all of us to unpack and we stored the suitcases under the bed to make more room. The bathroom is small, but very efficient with storage under the sink vanity. There was a lack of towel bars and with three of us it was hard to find space to hang wet towels. Our room stewards Devandra and Norman were very polite and worked very hard to make our stay comfortable. Read more