Our family of four, 13 year old girl and 10 year old boy took our first family cruise together. We stayed the night before in Miami at the Homewood Suites Airport west (free supper, breakfast and beer and wine) and got a surprise upgrade to a deluxe suite thanks to the manager having a girlfriend in our home town when he was younger. We returned to the airport on the free shuttle the next day and took a $25 cab to the port.

Check in started at Noon and we only took 30 minutes to board. I recommend getting there early as it gave the kids time to explore the ship without the crowds and to use some of the facilities without the wait. We had immediate access to our cabin and our luggage showed up at around 4 p.m. We had an outside cabin on deck 4. It was small but functional. We only used the cabin to sleep and as a gathering spot before activities so to upgrade would have been a waste of money. It was kept exceptionally clean and we all enjoyed the nightly towel creations. The ship is a little worn but not in a bad way. We signed the kids up for the kids clubs and the wanted to do all of the activities. My son really liked the camp staff and both kids made some good friend quickly. The service in the dining room was slow but the staff was great, the food however was average at best. We are far from being foodies but after a couple of meals in the dining room I wondered If buffet dining was more our style. We tried the buffet a couple of times and found that the quality wasn't any different than the dining room but the meals went quicker. We didn't buy the alcohol drink package because we didn't think we would drink enough to make it worth while however we did get the pop package for the kids but they really didn't drink enough to make it worth it. they actually drank more juice.

The first stop was Key West and all we bought was the bus passes and toured. It is a nice little town and we enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere. The next day was Mexico and we bought a speed boat ride and island getaway. the boat ride was great. The kids loved it and our guides Willie and Hector. The island had all you can eat and drink but for $320 is really wasn't worth it. The shows were entertaining but hardly world class. Overall we think we got our moneys worth. The bottom line is that this first family cruise did make us want to do another.