I am going to be thorough to try to give anyone reading this the best possible information. To give you some perspective - As a family, we traveled with our teenage child. This was our first cruise - so we cannot compare it to any other cruises, although we have done the all-inclusive vacations to the Caribbean many times, so we can give good perspective on the pros/cons of cruising vs. all-inclusive. Going through customs to board the ship was fairly routine - from the dock, you enter a large building, show your credentials and walk onto the ship. Your bags are received from your car next to the boat (more on this later) and then you drive to the parking deck and a shuttle brings you back to the boat - easy! Cruising is wonderful...just sailing on the ocean is very pretty and not at all boring (this was a real fear).

The Boat: As far as the boat itself, its nice. 3 pool areas - an adult section in the front of the boat, a family pool in the middle, and a children's pool toward the back. They are all right next to each other so they extend for the majority of Deck 11. The Windjammer Cafe is also on Deck 11 so it is a busy deck. The pools are small and busy - and everyone sits out there. Not sure why you want to sit at the pool and completely cover yourself in a blanket and read a book, but that's just me?!?!? The promenade on Deck 5 will make you feel like you are at the mall - stores and kiosks with places to eat and drink. If you are a mall person - you'll love hanging out there and people watch/shop. The casino on Deck 4 was nice (not a casino person here) but they had all the games and it was hopping there pretty much whenever it was open (everything but food and pool closes on the boat at Ports - they cannot sell you anything or let you gamble in other countries.) Our balcony room was fine - everything on a boat is a little condensed as you would expect, but with 3 people in the room, we did not feel cramped. Some rooms have a pullout bed for the third person, others have a drop down bed in the ceiling which hovers directly over the heads of the people in the bed. The rooms were kept spotless by the staff and the entire crew was so nice. BIG PRO: We have gone to all-inclusives and our child would meet kids only to see them leave the next day or whatever. Here, he met 20 or so kids his age and they were glued at the hip all week. For those looking for things to do for their kids - cruising is a real plus.

The Ports: Read more