This will be a fairly quick review. We arrived at the Port of Tampa at approximately 11:00am and were onboard eating lunch by noon. We checked out different areas of the ship to get acquainted before heading to our room at 1pm. It was ready for us. The aft junior suite (1602) did not disappoint. The cabin was huge, the bathroom was a nice size with a full tub, the walk in closet was smaller than most jr suites but was still a walk in and very adequate for all 3 of us overpackers. The balcony. Oh the balcony. It was massive (compared to the balcony cabins I'm used to). There were two chaise lounges, one small table and two chairs. You could easily fit another two lounges and two chairs on it if you had to. The view was perfect and sitting out on the balcony watching the water was amazing.

If you take this cruise out of Tampa, be SURE you do not miss going under the Skyway Bridge. Being from the area, we have driven over the Skyway countless times. The experience of going under it with the ship's horn blowing was something I will never forget. It was absolutely breathtaking. One of the highlights of the trip and we weren't even in open water yet!

Speaking of open water. The weather was not going to cooperate. It started getting very wavy about dinner time. I mean VERY wavy. My son and husband were fine but I was getting a little green so I went back to the cabin and called it an early night. Well, when we woke up the following mornings I was sure this was an impromptu audition for "The Deadliest Catch". I even said to myself "I'm sure I booked a Caribbean cruise, not a crabbing cruise". It was not good. We still managed to get around and do all the things we would have normally done - but for someone who gets a little seasick, let's just say it saved us plenty of money at the bar. It was ginger ale and club soda for me. Read more