We arrived on july 12th at the airport at 8:45 AM, We stopped at Vodafone to get a sim card for our phones. This SIM card was 10 Euros and was the 'yusser' plan, instead of the Tourist SIM as we got free calls between our phones while in Spain. Then it was a 20 min taxi ride (25 EUROS) to the port. The porters met us and took our bags promptly. Check in was a breeze. We arrived at 11:15 AM. There were cookies and juice in the waiting area. We had to fill out the medical forms off to the side, then check in. We clarified who could charge on the room cards (definitely not our kids..LOL). Once we got our sea pass cards, we stopped at the obligatory photo ops and continued to the boat.

We entered on the main level (5) and immediately felt we were on a fancy street in some major US city. Lots of little restaurants, the floating bar, kiosks selling things and fancy stores. It was very nice. We grabbed a quick slice of pizza at the Sorrento's and then wandered around the boat. The kids club check in was fine and they hole punch your kids sea passes and give them a free lanyard, fyi!

We paid for 2 kids pop plans for 40 Euros. They do charge VAT so FYI, I had heard if you book it in advance, you don't pay the VAT. These come with a mug (which is chip enabled). Also your kids get a sticker on their Sea pass card so they can get pop. There are machines which you can fill your mugs SELF-SERVE right next to the pizza restaurant on level 5, as well as in the buffet (windjammer deck 16) and then wipeout bar (deck 15, just below the buffet). These had basically any pop, vitamin water, flavored juice, carbonated/flavored water you could want. So we initially thought we would drink pop, but ended up drinking the strawberry water all the time. Healthier!!. However, if you wanted pop at on of the bars, then you can only get coke/sprite. So it was a bit of a nuissance if you really were craving a Cherry Coke as you would have to go find a machine to get it. Furthermore, I have cruised other boats (disney, NCL, HAL) and found this cruise had the largest choice for flavored juices, carbonated water, etc. at the buffet so I barely used the pop plan. Lastly, just in case you think you can reuse this mug. IT comes chip enabled, so when you use the self-serve kiosk it says: 'you have free refills until july 19th'. I am assuming if you try to use it on another cruise, it will say you can't use it. Now, I'm sure a bar tended would fill it for free if you gave it to him. Also, the self-serve is a bit finicky and often can't sense your mug, then your kids fill it half way and it stops. The problem with this, is that once it thinks you have filled the mug, it won't let you refill it for 11 mins, so if you send your kids to do it, they often come back with a half filled mug and dissappointed faces. Read more