My husband and I traveled with another couple that are frequent cruisers.  I had been on one previous cruise out of the Galveston area near where we live, but my husband had never cruised before.  We left June 28 and returned July 5.We flew into Orlando on Saturday so that the guys could fish that afternoon.  We waited in a very long line for our rental car.  We used Enterprise and all of the places had long lines but on a Saturday at 11 am, Enterprise only had two attendents working the desk.  After waiting for 30 minutes, a third person came up.  He said he did not normally work that location but was called in.  We didn't get on the road until noon but the drive over was very easy.  There is only one toll booth and you basically drive straight to Cape Canaveral.  We dropped the guys off at the marina across from the cruise terminal and checked in at the Country Inn and Suites.  They allowed us to check in early and the room was large and clean.  We hung out at the pool and met the guys for dinner at the marina.  There are several places to eat and there was live music.  Sunday morning we drove down to check out Cocoa Beach,  hit the store to pick up some last minute items and dropped the car off at Enterprise.  We took their shuttle back to the terminal and got there around 11:30.  We were on the ship by 12:15.  We went straight to the Windjammer and then to the pool.  This was the first and last time we actually got into the water at the pool.  My husband and I are the type to hang out in the pool on a float, so anyone who has ever cruised before knows this is not going to happen on a cruise.  He was very disappointed about this aspect of our vacation.  The adult pool was packed daily, and the general pool was overrun with kids that just run back and forth from the kid section.  This is jumping ahead but the chairs around the pool did have towels thrown on them by 9 am each morning that was spent on the ship.  The staff did walk around and try to monitor this but I heard people yelling at them and just being ugly about it.  Of course, those who had saved the chairs felt like it was not a problem that they threw a towel on it at 9 am and showed up at noon.  And those who showed up at 11 wanted to be able to toss the towels aside.  I did see them picking up people's stuff if they had not shown up within an hour of putting it down.  We did enjoy the hot tubs in the adult section - very nice.  Our friends had originally booked the cruise for them and their daughter.  The daughter had an interior room across the hall from their balcony.  The daughter and her friend had to cancel, so my husband and I took their tickets.  Since it was originally booked with minors, they had the reservation with an adult and a minor in each room.  We were told this would have to be fixed once on the ship.  Additionally, I upgraded to a balcony guarantee because I knew my husband would not be able to handle an interior room.  We ended up being on deck 6, forward/starboard.  Our friends were deck 9, aft/starboard.  Everything was worked out by a quick trip to guest services and we were so glad we upgraded.  The room was great - it was totally worth having a balcony.  This ship is so large, we rarely felt it move, so being in the front was no big deal.  We loved being close to the Promenade because we are early risers and like to drink coffee before breakfast.  There is plenty of storage in the room and the shower was much larger than I thought it would be.  The bed was very comfortable!  The food was okay overall.  Sorrentos was great and very convenient to our room for a quick snack.  Breakfast in the Windjammer was good but always very crowded.  We consistently found families that sat the adults at one table and their table of 4 - 6 year olds next to them with no supervision.  I guess the parents wanted some time away but we do not have children and didn't appreciate the squealing of the kids while they mixed miso soup into their oatmeal or whatever they were doing.  We ended up eating dinner in the main dining room each night.  The appetizers were all wonderful and we usually ordered two per person each night.  What was called a filet in the main dining room was really a roast.  There was only one time where I could not eat the beef - it was just too tough and did not taste good.  My husband ordered a steak from Chops in the main dining room for $15.  It was a beautiful steak that tasted amazing.  Well worth it!  The desserts were also disappointing but they had the best ceasar salad I have ever eaten.  I loved, loved it.  Windjammer also had a good salad bar for lunch - very fresh.  My husband and I went to Johnny Rockets on Saturday and there was a 20 minute wait.  It was good food and a fun atmoshere.  It was $5/person and worth checking it out.  Prior to going on the ship we were trying to figure out how much drinks actually cost and got all kinds of responses from the message boards here.  Now I understand - the cost varies by drink.  They have a drink of the day and it is generally around $8 - 10.  Beers were around $4 - 5 and bloody marys were $5.  You could find frozen drinks for $6 - 10 and the same with mixed drinks.  We did buy one coke package and I was annoyed that even when I had my cup they asked to see my card to verify the sticker.  It is generally harder for a woman to keep her card on her since I was wearing a bathing suit or a dress without pockets.  That is a minor complaint though.The shows were good - I was shocked by how good the ice show was.  We saw several of them but you did need to get to the Arcadia early to get a seat.  We had the late dining and ours shows were at 7 some nights and 10:45 other nights.  I loved being able to take pictures with the photographers on the ship.  $20/picture seemed a little expensive to me but I really liked them and so I paid it.I was not impressed by the CocoCay stop.  We were all crammed on that island and there were people everywhere.  You could not even enjoy just floating in the water without someone floating into you.  The snorkeling was a joke - there were too many people around for there to be any fish hanging around.  St Thomas - We booked a private day sail/snorkeling excursion through a sailboat called High Pockets.  We HIGHLY recommend this.  Kathleen is the captain of High Pockets and had someone meet us at the port to take us to the marina.  We sailed over to St John and snorkeled in a couple of different bays that were isolated and beyond beautiful.  She prepared lunch for us and we had drinks on the boat.  Her snorkeling equipment was great, she was fun and it was the most memorable part of our trip.  St Martin - We got a cab to take us over to the water ferry for Pinel Island.  If you do this, make sure the cab will come back for you later in the day because there are no cabs waiting at the ferry once you come back.  This was on the french side and ended up being a topless beach but it was pretty secluded and just a beautiful beach.  We met another couple from the ship there and hung out with them.  They rented snorkel equipment and chairs/umbrellas on the beach.  We ate lunch near the cruise terminal and had a great day.  Going back to the airport we used their shuttle.  It was $36/person and it was a good experience.  We had reserved a rental car but after our experience coming from Orlando, we didn't want to deal with waiting for the shuttle to the rental car location, etc.  We walked off the ship and straight to their large bus.  We got on and were dropped off at the airport less than an hour later.Overall it was a great vacation and if you are the type that loves to cruise, you will enjoy this ship.  We loved our waiters!  There were some bartenders who did seem to want to be somewhere else but that was the exception.  In general, the staff was great, including Richard Spacey.  When disembarking at the ports, use the forward stairs if possible.  When we tendered, everyone had the use the aft stairs but when we docked we used the forward and seemed to be the only people using this one.  We had no lines!  Also, remember that you can use your phone but it the charges will come directly from your provider.  You won't see them on your screen in your room but are being charged.  The staff was really pushing the new ship, the Oasis.  I felt like I was always being sold something - drinks, the shops on the ship, art auctions, the spa, the next cruise.  I just didn't care for that aspect.  Based on what my husband and I want out of a vacation, the value for the money we spent is not there.  Also, we were so sick of the kids and teenagers by the end of the cruise.  Parents don't do a good job of monitoring their kids in this environment.