Last year we cruised as a family and made the decision to cruise together again- this time for Thanksgiving. Our party consisted of DH, two sons (aged 3 and 5), my mother, and my in-laws. Having cruised Carnival, NCL and Royal Caribbean before, we decided to try Celebrity for the first time. As the trip got closer, I began to worry over comments about Celebrity posted in member reviews. Would it be stuffy? Would the kids enjoy themselves? Is there enough to do? Would we be the only minority family on the ship (not well represented in Celebrity ads)? Bottom line, I'm not sure of everything that makes X special, but for us it was. Some reviews made it seem like the minute you walked onboard, you'd be stunned with the ship and the service. That didn't happen. What did happen is the realization that every day of the cruise, I noticed little things that made X different than the other lines we'd sailed on. By the end of the cruise, it was these things that made us book our 2011 Thanksgiving cruise on Celebrity.

The trip to Miami. We drove in two vehicles from Virginia to Miami, stopping overnight in Savannah. We arrived in Miami the night prior to embarkation and stayed at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Miami Airport South. Parking was $8 per day. I redeemed rewards points for the hotel rooms so I don't know the nightly rate. In order to get to the hotel, you have to drive through a less than desirable part of town. However, it was worth the drive. The rooms were relatively large, comfortable and clean. The staff was pleasant and the business center was free, allowing me to check Cruise Critic one more time for last minute tips before embarkation. The continental breakfast had more than standard continental stuff, including waffles and breakfast bagel sandwiches. However, with only one waffle maker, there was a wait- especially if you showed up close to the end of the breakfast period. It was a short drive to the pier- perhaps 15 minutes.

We arrived at the pier around 11:30am and were onboard no later than 12:30pm. It would have been faster but we had to get the car seats out the cars (yes, we took them with us) and finish labeling our luggage. Remember I said it was the little things I liked about X? Before we even got onboard, there was a table for the Fun Factory, the kids' club. The youth counselors provided the list of the day's youth activities and invited us to an orientation on the Fun Factory. I thought great- now I don't have to search for them, they've found us! Read more