We were to set sail on Monday, February 2, from Tampa - the day after the Super Bowl. Because we were driving in the day before and there seemed to be no reasonably priced hotel rooms available near the port, we opted to stay at the Hampton Inn just off of I-75 in Brooksville. It was less than an hour north of the port and was a safe, warm place to stay the night before our cruise. We got to the port about 11 am on the 2nd. I dropped off my mother and sister at the pier, handed the luggage off to a porter, and left Mom and Sis with carry-ons while I drove across the street to the parking garage to leave the car. I had been told that valet parking was the way to go here, but the garage was a short walk away so we decided to save some money. Had we stayed near the port the night before, we would have left the car at the hotel, but that obviously didn't work out. We were among the first to arrive at the pier and everything was going smoothly until we were asked to present our Set Sail passes and passports. Mom showed hers, I showed mine, and Sis searched frantically for hers. She checked every bag we had, then went back to the car to see if it had fallen out in there. Meanwhile, Mom and I were herded on inside. I told someone at the desk what had happened and asked if I could go out and help her look. I was able to and went back across the street to begin searching and praying. My sister said she had looked everywhere in the car and it wasn't there, but given her state of mind at the time, I had to look for myself. She walked back across the street, called a friend at work to see if there was a copy of her passport in the safe at work that could be faxed. Her friend asked her if she had checked her pockets. Guess what? There it was - in her pants pocket. It was quite a relief that she found it, but once I made it back across the street and we had all completed the check-in process we told her she had to buy the first round of drinks. She did. Once on board we headed to the bathroom, checked our seating for dinner, and made our way to the Windjammer for lunch. (Well, we had that first round of drinks before we ate.) I had the honey stung chicken because I had seen raves about it. It was a chicken strip. It was good, but it was a chicken strip. We were done by 1:30 and made our way to our room to check it out. We were thrilled when we saw that our luggage was waiting for us in the hallway. My husband and children had purchased the Bon Voyage decorations for us, so it was a treat to see the sign on our door and the decorations in our room. It was very sweet and almost made me feel guilty for going off and leaving them for a week. Since it was raining and pretty miserable on deck, we though we would go ahead and unpack a little since we had our luggage. We soon discovered that we had everything except for one of Mom's bags. The muster drill went smoothly, even in the rain, and we spent sail-away on our balcony on the port side. Tampa isn't a pretty port, especially in nasty weather. That was disappointing because it's usually so much fun up on deck for sail away, but that was moved to the centrum because of the weather. Oh well. By 6 pm we were ready for dinner, but an announcement went out for all those who had yet to receive bags to claim them in the conference room. Would you believe that my 78 year old mother had booze confiscated? It gave us a good laugh for the rest of the cruise and there was plenty of other booze on board. We were seated at a table for 8 with other mothers and daughters and it was a pleasure getting to know them throughout the cruise. Our waiter, Gordon, was awesome. His assistant waiter, Carmen, was a jewel, and our head waiter, Pawan, was always available. On previous cruises, I don't remember seeing the head waiter that often, but Pawan was there every night and made it a point to come to our table and say hello. My sister can't eat gluten and commented on the second or third night, when offered bread, that she was gluten-intolerant. No more than 5 minutes later, Carmen showed up with a plate of gluten-free bread for her. Pawan stopped by to make sure it was okay and to reassure her that he would do what he could to make sure that she had what she wanted to eat. The service at dinner each night was outstanding. Pawan's eye for detail, Gordon's sense of humor, and Carmen's smile had us looking forward to the dining room each night. The dinners were delicious, but my favorite dessert was orange sherbet. Our first stop was Key West. Since we didn't dock until 11 am we were able to watch them bring the ship in. It's very interesting to see if you've never watched it. We did the Old Towne Trolley Tour around Key West and had a great time seeing the highlights and learning about the history of the town. I bought the tickets on line and saved us each a few dollars. Plus, we were able to get on and off the trolley when we wanted. It worked out really well even though my mother had her walker with her to steady her when she walked - and we did walk! We would explore the area each time we got off the trolley, shop a little, and then re-board. The tour guides on the trolley were informative, though corny, and I learned more about the area than I did on my previous trip. We were back on the ship by 5:20, and sailing again by 6 pm. We turned in early and, unfortunately, missed the Quest. The following day was spent cruising and it was a beautiful day. Sis and I spent some time in the sun, but came in after a couple of hours because we were afraid we'd burn. We mainly killed time that day exploring and resting. This was a no pressure trip and we just wanted to relax, which is what we did. After dinner, we made it to see Jonathan Clarke in the Palladium Theater. He was pretty good and kept us entertained. Day 4 was spent in Cozumel. We took a taxi to the Forum shops and worked our way back towards the ship, shopping all the while. It was fun, but talk about pushy sales people! We learned to say no, but spent a fortune anyway. We made it as far as Carlos and Charlie's, where we finally stopped for lunch. It was fun, but a bit of a culture shock for my mother. The whistle-blowing and shots were a bit much for her, but once we explained what was going on she just smiled and enjoyed her margarita. After lunch, we took a taxi back to the International pier, wound our way through the shops there, finished our shopping, and we were back on the ship by 3:30, ready for the hot tub. Our feet were killing us and it was the perfect remedy, along with another drink. The entertainment that evening was the Broadway Rhythm and Rhyme show, which was okay, but grew a little boring as it went on. Maybe I was just pooped. The last day was spent at sea and I was hoping to be able to sit by the pool again and get some more sun, but it was freezing up on deck! My sister and I could have gone to the solarium, but it was packed with like-minded people and I didn't feel like looking for a seat. We spent some time packing, watched the men's sexy legs contest, explored some more, ate some more, and drank some more. The farewell show that night featured comedian Jeff Jena and we had some good laughs. He was good. We were in bed by 11, up by 6, and thought we'd be off the ship by 8, when our color was called. A couple of people didn't present themselves to the immigration officials on time, which held us up, but we were called about 45 minutes later. We found our luggage with no problem, hailed a porter to help us, and were through customs and in the car before 10, maybe even 9:30. Overall, the trip was all we were looking for. My sister had a great time on her first cruise, my mother decided that Royal Caribbean was her favorite of the three cruise lines she has sailed, I was able to relax away from the little ones, and all three of us enjoyed spending time with each other. I hope we can do it again soon.