We have only been on one cruise before this and it was about seven years ago. So pretty much this was another first time cruising experience. This was a five day cruise to Nassau and Key West. We were planning on going on the cruise before this one, but it was booked before we got to it. This one was only 30 dollars more per person for an inside room, so we went with it instead. We did online check-in and booked an excursion for Nassau before the cruise. We began packing the weekend before and got all our essentials that we needed to buy.
March 25th, 2013: Embarkation
We live only 20 minutes from JAXPORT, so we left at around 11:00 AM. When we arrived at the port we were greeted with lines, lines, and more lines. Thankfully, they move FAST! We went through security, checked in, and got on the boat in about 30 minutes! We took the elevator to the lido deck and had some lunch. We had the mongolian food since it had the shortest line. I would say go for it! No line and the food was good! You choose noodles,veggies, meat, and sauce. Then they cook it right there! After lunch, we went to guest services to put some money in our cash account. It was about 1:00 then, so we went to our room. We had a standard inside room directly midship, room U123. We had the 2 twins set up and that allowed for a big space in the middle of the room. We didnt have a fridge which we would have liked, but everything else was good. The rest of the day was just exploring and dinner. We had 8:15 dining, not our first choice, in the Sensation dining room. Our waiter was Elmer and he was great the whole week! Don't be afraid to ask whats not good that night! He knows the best stuff to eat! We had tilapia and brisket, both very good. We then brought the chocolate melting cake to the room. After that we called it a night!
Cabin U123 is a standard inside cabin on deck 6. It was somewhat small, but we managed to have all the space we needed. It is located midship very close to the stairs. We only head noise twice during the cruise.