My husband and I are in our late 40's. We have two sons, 18 and 15. We have cruised 3 times with two separate cabins. First was Carnival "Victory", eastern Caribbean (March break 2002), then RC "Voyager of the Seas", western Caribbean (March break 2003). This last cruise over the Christmas Holidays was to be our first 10-day cruise with balconies side by side.

Embarkation: Driving from Ottawa, Canada to Ft Lauderdale in two days went well alternating between 3 drivers. (took 3 days on the way back) The weather cooperated and there was no weekend road construction. We had a full day to rest and go shopping at "Sawgrass Mills" outlet mall before boarding on Tuesday. The hotel we stayed at offered FREE parking while cruising. The cost of taking a shuttle to and back from the port was still half the price of parking at the port itself. We arrived at the Princess terminal around 11:15, joined the line, when who should come up right behind us? The one person I corresponded with from the Cruise Critic's postings! We had arranged to get the 2 families together to benefit from a group discount for an excursion in Mexico. We were on the ship within 45 minutes. This was the fastest we had ever boarded. We went to our rooms, then to the front desk to have new keys made and finally to the Maitre D' desk asking to be changed to an early sitting in the dining room (were 27th on the waiting list).

Cabins: First thing we did was check out the rooms and drop off the carry-on luggage. We were in D-216 and D-218. Cruise lines always put one person under 21 with an adult per room. Our cabin steward, Andy, greeted us and directed the boys to the room with the beds already separated and us parents to the one with the beds placed together. He also opened the balcony panel between the two rooms. It makes quite a difference. We left the patio doors unlocked to access each other's rooms until the keys (shipboard credit cards) were re-issued accordingly. Read more