I always like to preference reviews by a bit of background about the reviewer so the reader can have a bit of insight. We are in our mid-40's, first X cruise, but our 11th overall. Have cruised RCCL, HAL, NCL and Carnival. Our least favorite was Carnival. Probably done the most of HAL in the last few years and really enjoyed it but the average age on HAL is quite a bit above ours. We are from San Diego so the time change to the East plus the additional hour lost on the cruise was a bit of a problem for us - late mornings!

We choose this cruise because it was a new ship and we liked the perks offered (beverage package and gratuities) - it was so so nice not to have to "worry" about how big a bill we would have at the end. We had the Classic package included and thought we would upgrade, but after listening to the recommendations on the CC forums, we waited until we got on the ship - great idea. We never felt the need to upgrade and found lots of reasonable options within the confines of our classic package. Now if you need Grey Goose, then you should upgrade, but let me tell you after a few days when the bartenders all knew us we were poured whatever we wanted, including premium. Of course, we do tip, so maybe this helps??

Anyway, embarkation was smooth. Port of Miami was easy to get to from FLL (we flew in the night before) and had family drive us done. Got there about Noon and was on the ship no later than 30 minutes and headed to lunch. Read more