Preface..my 10 year old son and I joined my husband in Miami on a week long business trip over Spring Break. The beach and Marriott pool can only hold the interest of a child for so long, so I booked this quickie 3 day sailing even after reading some frightening reviews. I have never cruised without my husband before but figured my son has enjoyed each of the 9 cruises he has taken, so we gave it a try.

We drove from Miami and utilized the valet parking for $15/day. Very convenient and they took good care of my rental car. The port was a bit further from Miami than I had figured, but we arrived early and made it through check in with the first 100 cruisers. That being said, I was dismayed to find only rather late seating or very early seating for our dining choices. We chose Rios Steak House for our first evenings meal (early) before embarkation and were in board within 35 minutes of the valet taking the rental car.

We carried on our rolling luggage and picked a poolside lounger near an umbrella to,park our luggage and grab a bite to eat. Imagine my surprise to find crisp, cold salads, paella, kick butt fried chickens and two, count 'em TWO full steamship sides of beef. The real deal. Have not seen that on Royal Caribbean, Holland American or even Carnival in many, many years. It was perfectly seasoned and one was rare, the other more well. Melt. In. Your. Mouth. ..Gods honest truth. It was the first of many tasty, well prepared food items we sampled on board. I imagined (based on assumptions and other reviews) that the Embarkation Buffet would be a mish-mosh of cheap cold cuts, burgers and dogs. Not at all. Impressed me from the start. Read more