My husband and I booked this cruise to celebrate our 20th anniversary. First time cruisers! We flew into Long Beach airport the morning of embarkation on Jet Blue (love this airline...most leg space I've seen in coach!) Took Uber to the port, stopping at a store to pick up our sodas/wine/champagne along the way. Our check in time was schedule at 1 PM. We arrived around 9:45 AM and were able to chat with some the passengers coming back from the cruise before us after having the port steward take our luggage. Once they opened up the building where we could check in, we sat back and relaxed. I believe after 11:30, they started to allow people to board based on the zone # given to each stateroom group. Easy to board and the buffet and bars were open on Lido deck. Unfortunately, awhile after 4 PM when we were scheduled to depart, they started announcing there were issues with the engines they were working on. Around 5 AM the next morning, they pulled us away from the port to allow another ship to dock while they were waiting for the tech from Miami to get there. No casino, no onboard shopping allowed due to not being in international waters. We were finally on our way just before 3 pm, with an adjusted itinerary dropping the Mazatlan port due to lack of time.

Cabin 6409: Balcony room, queen bed and 2 pull outs. Well worth the upgrade as I spent several hours out on that balcony over the course of the trip as it was shielded from the wind and I could be close to my husband who had to rest frequently. Only 1 outlet which is outside the bathroom, so bring a power strip. Bathroom was cozy, but definitely doable. Every shower ended up with water on the floor of the bathroom, even with the curtain inside the bottom lip.

Dining: We ate at the buffet, deli, and burger place, as well as the Black Pearl dining room. The food was really good in the buffet the first couple days. Enjoyed the omelette bar the most for breakfast. The buffet desserts looked amazing first couple days and the second to last day. Seemed like they didn't try so hard to impress on the other days. The Black Pearl was really good food and the staff were great! The deli was my go to. Read more