My husband and I took a cruise out of Charleston 5 years ago with Carnival. This time our family of 4 decided to try a new cruise line and leave from Port Canaveral. This cruise was the first cruise for our kids. Boarding was a breeze. We arrived at the terminal at 10:15 am and had to sit in the waiting area until the ship was ready which was around 10:45. We were on within 25 minutes. The rooms weren't ready yet which was to be expected. We headed for the pool deck and found only 1 pool functioning as the other was down for maintenance. We headed to the Windjammer for lunch and it was PACKED. No where to sit. We were having to clear off dishes to make room. Food was okay. The massive crowds found it difficult to navigate so we just gave up and ate what was on our plates.

Headed back to the pool area and jumped in. It was HORRIBLE. The salt water pool was so salty I immediately got back out. Our room became ready at 1:30. It was small, however we camp a lot and are used to small living quarters. I packed an electrical strip which came in handy. There was plenty of storage for 3 bags of luggage. I over packed and we wound up using about 65% of what was brought. Tip : when travelling with kid or others - good idea to bring a robe. Bathroom is so small you cannot get ready in there. Put on a robe and get ready at the vanity. Also, if you pull open the bathroom door and stand between the cabin door and bathroom door there is enough privacy for you to get dressed and no one can see you. It's better than attempting to do it in the tiny bathroom. We didn't have towel animals every night, only twice. Our kids got a kick out of it.

I called Room Service one night b/c I was extremely thirsty. We never had any ice in our room or drinking water. Room service never showed up. Found the Ben and Jerry's and saw that it was out of order. Wound up being out of order the entire trip and after reading reviews it appears its been out of order for months. Shame on Royal Caribbean for using this as an amenity and it's not even in service!! There was a Starbucks on board but by day 2 they had already ran out of the stuff to make Frappucino's which, my family loves. Read more