There were 8 of us traveling, all adults with various cruise backgrounds. Our daughter and son-in-law and we have cruised over 25 times, our foster daughter and her partner, celebrating 20 years together, have cruised 3 times previously. As for their friends, one had cruised a couple of times and for the other this was first time and certainly will her last. We were in an outside cabin, while they enjoyed balconies. Our daughter had a mini-suite, which made us feel almost like second-class cruisers, but that was OK. In the past, we have had mini-suites, balconies, outside cabins and inside. We book based on our budget at the time and rarely regret our choice.

Now, getting on with the wonders of cruising we experienced, starting with embarkation. We had spent 2 nights in Orlando prior to the cruise with our younger daughter and drove from there to the port in Miami. It took about 4 hours. We arrived at the port about 11:15 and hubby and I were in our cabin about noon. Housekeeping has improved becauses the cabins were ready; we didn't have to walk around the ship for hours carrying our tote bags. The only downside at all was the check-in point for wine we transported. We have always done this, always paying $15 a bottle, regardless of the bottle's size and it has always taken just a couple of minutes. This time, the woman checking the wine was either new, slow or both. She wrote everything down, including the brands of wine, bottle size, etc. and yes, charged $30 for the 1.5 liter bottle. That didn't bother us, but the speed with which she moved certainly did. We are used to them just saying OK, 4 bottles, X dollars, cabin number and away we go.

Cabins: We went directly to our cabin to drop off our carry-ons and then to get something to eat. As we approached our cabin, Veneir, our cabin steward, greeted us with a big "hi" and smile. He asked our names, even though we go by nicknames, which are not the same as our legal names. He never forgot them throughout the entire cruise. Our cabin was always spotless. Though they are on the small side, and getting in and out of bed is a little challenging, there is plenty of storage space. The bathrooms are laid out nicely and there is a flat screen TV, even if it is very small.But then who cruises to watch TV anyway? The bed was comfortable and the temperature in the cabin easy to control. I do think the next time we cruise on a ship with cabins this small, we will have the beds separated. That would be easier than trying to crawl out of them when they are queen-sized. Read more