Pre-cruise We stayed at the Holiday Downtown-Port of Miami. A great choice. Bayside Marketplace is across the street with lots of shops and eateries. Hotel is $10 cab from pier. Staff is great. Tip:If you are a Priority Club member you get $5 per room off breakfast.

Embarkation We arrived at 11:20 AM in a wave with about 20 of our group so we sort of clogged up the check-in lines. Still the process was smooth. By 11:45, we were at our deck but found the door to the hall closed until 1:00 PM. Since the Windjammer would not open until noon and I had wisely placed my swimsuit in my carry-on, I enjoyed the Solarium Pool for a while. At 1 PM, we returned to our deck and saw that the door to the hall was still closed. Just as we opened it to see if we could get to our cabin an attendant was arriving to fix the door in the open position. (I wonder if we could have entered earlier)

Our Cabin We were delighted with the size and layout of our cabin. Our cabin attendant, Don, greeted us warmly and asked if we needed anything. He asked if we wished our ice bucket replenished more than once a day and I said yes. Later in the cruise he told me that 'policy' was to only fill the ice bucket once a day unless the passenger requests it more often, so he makes sure that he gets the 'request' right away. Throughout the cruise, Don continually anticipated our needs and thus made our stay a real pleasure. We dropped off our carry-on luggage, popped our passports into the safe and headed to the Windjammer for a light lunch. We took a leisurely stroll back to our cabin perusing the public areas of the ship along the way. As we turned into our hall, we were surprised to see that our luggage was already waiting for us outside our cabin door. We brought our things inside and unpacked. We found that there were plenty of hangers and ample closet space. We lowered the second clothes rod on one side of the closet and my husband took the top rod for his shirts and slacks while I hung all my short sets on the lower rod. We used the full length of the other side for my gown and dresses and his suits. There was a row of shelves in the middle of the closet, cabinets over the TV, and a medicine chest in the bathroom. There was more than enough storage space. Shortly after the obligatory safety drill, we set sail. Read more