This was our first American cruise with a child. We were on the Costa Concordia (before it sank) about 10 years ago. We took this cruise with an 8 year old and 70 year old grandparents because we liked the port destinations. We are a very active family and normally go to Mexico because of the activities available. We are not the type of people to sit on the beach.

We flew into Miami and stayed with friends prior to the cruise and took an Uber to the terminal. We had forgotten our boarding pass on the table and were worried we would have to go back but it was no problem at all. We were very impressed with the boarding and disembarking process and everything was very smooth and quick.

We had a cove balcony cabin which was just fine. We had plenty of room for storage and didn't really need the additional shoe organizer we had brought. We were happy we'd brought some magnetic hooks and fishing line to hang wet things though. I actually liked that the balcony was close to the water and shaded by the lifeboats and though we spent very little time in the room, I did read out there a few mornings. The cabin service was a bit spotty. We never got the next day's activity schedules and all of the special offers and birthday cards came a day late so the activity had already been done. Towel animals were sometimes there, sometimes not. We had to ask for luggage tags at the end. But our cabin steward was extremely friendly and was so kind to our son. Read more