This was our fourth cruise, but first for our 9 year old son. We flew in the day before to ensure that weather and any other problems would not be a factor in our getting to the ship on time. We arrived in Tampa without a hitch.

I am one who does not like to pay a lot of money to sleep in a bed and take a shower in a clean room. Tampa is a city that seems to have a lot of hotels, yet when one starts reading online reviews for the under 100 dollar places, they get a lot of bad press. It seems to me that one has to pay upwards of 200 dollars or more a night to get a decent hotel with good reviews. I went the Priceline route and got the Marriott Airport for 81 dollars a night. (Marriott's website was quoting $289) I can live with 81 dollars. This was a very nice hotel, with easy access to all the airport restaurants. It was very convenient to be able to walk upstairs after getting our luggage and be at our hotel. The cab ride to the port the next day set us back about 25 dollars.

We arrived at the port around 11:00 Friday morning, and we were boarding by 11:30. It was a very easy and smooth embarkation. As you walk onto the ship, the weeks and months of anticipation cause me to come down with a condition I like to call permagrin. I noticed that my son had it as well. Read more