I'm writing this more to answer the questions that I wish I had found here before our trip... ya know.

DRINKS: This is why we took this cruise. And it's true. From when we woke up till 2am it was no-holds-barred good stuff. Bloody Maries where we'd call Stoli or Absolut or Tito's or Ketel One or Russian Standard. Drinks with Gosling's Ginger Beer - and Gosling's dark rum or Meyer's dark or Bacardi dark. Blended mango daquiris and margaritas and pina coladas. 6 flavors of mojito. Plentiful wine and sparking wine at dinner. Endless beers in those strange metal bottles for the pool deck - bud and miller lite and Corona. (I didn't see any dark beer, but I wasn't looking...) All included. From what we could tell, only the tippy-top shelf and red bull and bottled water were excluded. I heard a rumor that shots were excluded, which we proved wrong, too. We drank our money's worth. And then some.

EMBARKATION: We showed up around 12:30 and the line was moving fast. Probably waited only a few minutes. We were on board by 1pm and the bars, pools, and buffet were open. There really aren't enough tables at the buffet for the first/last day when everyone's chowing at the same time, but that changes on other days when some of us sleep in. Muster drill was fast and easy- no need to bring your life jacket with on this one- and the following welcome from the cruise director and his folks was fun. Read more