This was the first cruise for my husband and I, we have been married 16 years. My husband is in the navy and never wanted to take a cruise vacation. I used to be a flight attendant and we have been to many caribbean islands on regular vacations. He likes to scuba dive and I like to just snorkel. Anyway, I finally talked him into going on this huge ship! I had taken 3 night disney cruises w/ my mom before twice and knew I love cruising. This ship is AMAZING! I took over 200 pictures! It is the most gorgeous ship I have ever seen, and very clean!
EMBARKATION: A nightmare! Long line outside the port in 90 degree heat. We made the mistake of carrying on ourselves 2 day bags a computer bag and my husband did not check his garment bag so we were carrying all this STUFF for a long time and he was fit to be tied by the time we got on the ship. We arrived at P. Canaveral around 12:00. We live in Jacksonville so the drive is nice, only 2:15. When we finally got through the last check point and onto the ship it was 12:45 and we were told we could not go to our rooms until 1:00. So here we are in the hall standing w/ all our stuff (our fault on that one, lesson learned!) Check everything!! Our cabin was the very last balcony cabin on the port side, 7678 and of course we boarded the ship at the farthest end, so another very LONG hike to our room! When we finally got to our room it was very nice. We actually loved our cabin, the balcony being the last one on the end has a curve on the side that the others don't and it gives you and extra railing for hanging wet towels, etc, and a little more room. We changed into shorts and went off to explore the ship and have some lunch. The windjammer buffet was crazy crowded and the only place we could find to sit was at the bar. We immediately made reservations for CHOPS for Wed. night (night 4). The lifeboat drill was at 4:15 and we got back to our cabin around 4:00 and our luggage was there. Our Cabin was very nice and comfortable however the bathroom is really small. The shower is tiny and very difficult to shave your legs! I noticed the bathroom sometimes smelled funny - think smells came from the sink sometimes and toilet, so I had brought w/ me a small room spray from Bath&Body Works and used it often. ALSO, brought a power strip for the room and that came in handy plus a Small alarm clock since there is no clock in the room. The room is very dark at night and I wish I had brought a small flashlight/night light.
FIRST NIGHT: We had dinner in the main dining room, deck 3, Rhapsody in Blue table 279 by the window! Beautiful table, gorgeous dining room. Our table mates, 2 ladies were very nice and we enjoyed dining w/ them every night. Our servers were excellent. Most of the meals we had in the main dining room were good, not excellent, just good. 2 meals we had we didn't like at all. Here are our likes/dislikes on the menu: Likes: Prime Rib, Filet, Cod, Garlic Prawns, Lobster, Crab Cakes Dislikes: Pork Chop, NY Strip steak, Deserts: Just OK...the only one that was worth the calories was the key lime pie the last night.I was very disappointed in the quality of the deserts. Disney Cruise line had better food and deserts. CHOPS: EXCELLENT meal. One of the best meals I ever had. Order the FILET and Mississippi mud pie for desert! This restaurant was like a Ruth Chris' or Morton's Steak house. Definitely worth $40