We left for Florida on June 16th to visit Disney World and my father-in-law's sister. After renting a minivan at the Orlando airport, we headed over to Cocoa Beach and got to the Sandcastles Condos. We try to stay in condos when we can, so we can take advantage of the kitchen amenities and washer/dryers (definitely came in handy when we needed to do laundry right before the cruise, where we wouldn't have access to doing our own!)

On Sunday, we turned in the rental at Avis on A1A, and took their shuttle to Port Canaveral. Just like what others have said, the embarkation was smooth and relatively painless. Other than standing in a few lines here and there, we got there by 11:45, and were on the ship by 12:30. After that, we only had to wait a few minutes before we could go to our staterooms.

The inside Promenade staterooms were just right for us. While I think we initially might've all wanted balcony rooms, this arrangement worked out perfectly because my husband and I had one room to ourselves, and my kids (ages 8 and 10) had their own adjoining ours. Definitely recommended if you have older children or tweens like mine. My in-laws had a inside stateroom that was also surprisingly spacious, just on the other side of the internet room. Another tip: If you choose this type of stateroom, get them on either side of the Promenade. We hardly heard any of the crowd noise, even when there were parades going on. Read more