We arrived in Miami a day before the cruise, which turned out to be for the best as the airline had "misplaced" our luggage. We spent the night, as planned, at the Airport Holiday Inn - a nice stay - and got our luggage later that night. In the morning, we took the hotel shuttle to the pier at 9:30.

Embarkation seemed extremely easy. We had to wait in lines here and there, but that was expected. We were on the ship by 11:30 a.m. We were greeted with lemonade and punch. We skipped the soda cards, as we could live on the free water, ice tea, and lemonade. We made our way up to the Windjammer Cafe where lunch was already waiting for us.

The pools (yes, for anybody who may not know, they ARE saltwater) and hot tubs (fresh water) were fantastic and a nice way to relax from the hot Miami sun. We stayed up on deck until the ship began to pull away, enjoying the view of Miami passing by and the excitement of the Bon Voyage party. Read more