This being our first cruise, I was surprised at how easy it was to plan. A BIG THANK YOU to Cruise Critic for providing all of the information for first time cruisers. I work in the lodging industry, and know there can be lots of headaches when planning something you have never done before. We arrived in Miami a day early and stayed at the Embassy Suites Miami Airport. The hotel was nice, just not a lot to do in the area. We took the time and enjoyed the pool. The hotel also provided a shuttle to the port for $10.00 per person. I was traveling with my Mother (This was a 50th Birthday present for her). We decided early on that it would just be the two of us going since this was our first cruise. We tend to be the guinea pigs of the family when it comes to trying something new.

We arrived at the port around 11:30am and made it through security in a snap. The line to check in was long, but it moved very fast. We waited less than 15 minutes before being checked in and given a boarding number. Less than 30 minutes later we were on the Lido Deck having our first cocktail and some lunch! The ship is beautiful, and was always nice and clean! Our room was ready by 1:30pm and the bags arrived shortly thereafter. The room was perfect! We had a balcony room on the port side, forward ship. There was plenty of closet space and it didn't seem cramped at all. At first I was skeptical about being that far forward, but now I'm glad that we were. After all of the food that we had, it was nice to be able to "walk it off" before going back to the room for the night.

Our room steward, Gerardo, was absolutely wonderful! Everything was always clean and fresh, and he made sure that we always had ice and anything else that we might need. He also called us by name every time that he saw us. The towel animals were great! Entertainment was good...had a great variety of things to see. Read more