We drove to Port Canaveral the day before and stayed at the Country Inn & Suites where we were able to leave our car during the cruise and take their free shuttle to the port. We had a slight problem with check-in at the pier because I wanted to put my Grandson and his friend on my credit card. I'm sure I'm not the first to do this, but he acted as if it would destroy his entire process and tried to talk my daughter and son-in-law into putting my Grandson on their credit card. He wasted about 15 minutes lecturing us on how we were bogging down his process...????...After leaving him, we walked straight onto the ship. We had 2 balcony cabins (my daughter and SIL in one; my other daughter and me in another; my 17-yr old Grandson and a friend in a Promenade cabin). We went to the WJ and had lunch..a tradition we can't skip, then checked out our dining location. We chose early dinner to give eveyone the opportunity to do their own thing after dinner. The guys were told they only had to have dinner with us and they quickly excused themselves after dinner each evening. Anyone under 18 is not allowed to leave the ship without an adult, so they were again forced to depend on us to leave the ship. This is a great safety measure as far as we are concerned. They don't have to have the adult to return to the ship, which is also nice to know.

Our first day was a day at sea. We used the day to sun out by the pool and to hit the shops. Deck 12 overlooks the pool and has the BEST breezes so we were always cool, never crowded and bar service was fabulous. Hold onto your hats because the breeze will snap it right off your head. My daughters and I always have lunch in the MDR on sea days because of the Tutti Salad..another tradition (LOL). It's just too good to be called a salad!!!

We had previously been to all the islands, but we had a first-time cruiser with us. My Grandson's friend had never been on a cruise before so he wanted to see everything. Our first stop was Labadee. It had been several years since we had visited Labadee and it was everything and more than we remembered. We took a mid-morning exit to the island and found it to be as beautiful as ever. We strolled to the Dragon's Breath and took some gorgeous photos. We used the beach and we let the golf carts/trolleys pick us up and drop us off several times during the day. We bought a few trinkets from the vendors. The vendors were polite and didn't bother us and Haiti has faced so much, we couldn't bring ourselves to haggle over any of the prices. Lunch was the typical BBQ, but we were surprised to see there were no long lines and plenty of room to sit and eat. We couldn't leave without having a Labadoozie drink..another tradition we can't skip. I love watching the stragglers heading back to the ship. It was surprising how many people didn't even head to the ship until they were late and had to be herded off the island by the crew. Read more