This was me and my boyfriend's first cruise. We flew into Tampa the day before and stayed at the Raymond James Comfort Inn. It was a nice hotel. There was plenty for breakfast. The hotel layout reminded us of Earl and Randy's 'home' from My Name is Earl. We used the hotel shuttle and BJ was awesome!

Embarkation: WOW!!! I expected lines and a wait, but got NONE of it! Everything was super fast and the next thing you knew, you were on the ship. We headed up to the Lido deck and had lunch. It was good. The staff was very fast to clean up so everyone could sit and eat. After having lunch, we went to find our stateroom which was ready before 1:30. Our room steward was Suphot and he was awesome-love his towel animals! There was a fake window in our room, which we got a kick out of. We did notice a slight sewer smell in the bathroom, but we just kept the door shut and didn't notice it. I don't understand why everyone complains about Muster drill. I for one WANT to know what to do if there is an emergency! Some people were not listening which made it hard for those of us who wanted to listen. But, it was only 15 minutes.

We had the early seating in the Carnivale. Imade and Jorge were our servers and they were very professional, and fun. We met 2 other couples who turned out to be very fun and seemed to go to the same activities that we did. Read more