SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2ND - We got to the airport at 4:30 a.m., and our plane left at 6:20 a.m. All went well with the flights, and a Royal Caribbean representative met us when we were picking up our luggage in Houston, and ushered us out to a shuttle bus, which took us to our hotel. We stayed at a Doubletree Inn, which was very nice, roomy, had a comfy bed and flat-screen TV, and also a fitness room. We walked next door to Taco Bell for supper, and afterward I worked out in the fitness room while DH stayed in our room and watched TV.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 3RD - We walked just a little further that morning and ate breakfast at Jack in the Box. Another Royal Caribbean representative got us a slightly earlier-than-anticipated ride to Galveston, but this shuttle bus wasn't nearly so nice. It rattled a lot and sounded like it was about to fall apart. The bus got us to the cruise port in about 70 minutes (we had anticipated 90).

Checking in on the ship was really easy. The line was small and moved quickly when we went through. We had to show our passports a couple of times, then got our ship ID cards and had our picture taken when getting on the ship. We actually got on the ship about an hour before we could go to our stateroom. That bummed DH out, 'cause he didn't want to pack his carry-on bag with him to explore the ship. We walked around anyway, as there was nothing else we could do then. Read more