We choose this cruise to get together with friends from other states and to get out in the sunshine. We purposely chose a shorter, less expensive cruise. There were 12 of us all together; 4 of the couples flew from Ohio, one already in Florida, and we drove from SC.

Embarkation was the easiest we have had in 17 cruises. The Port of Tampa is easy to drive to, easy to park, easy to board. We were onboard in about 30 minutes. Cabins weren't ready so we went to the Windjammer expecting a crush of people. There was no trouble getting tables for the group or food.

Since we had twelve, I wasn't able to make the MTD reservation online ahead of time, so I did it for 10 and added the last couple with no problem when we got onboard. Food in the dining room and Windjammer was good to very good. Some of the standouts were the lamb chops, the short ribs, the coconut shrimp appetizer (I wish I'd ordered two as an entree.), soups, warm chocolate cake. I thought the Windjammer food was better than recent previous cruises. Read more