This was essentially our first time on a Cruise...Family of 5 - Me, DW, DD11, DD13, DS15. We sailed on the Destiny from Aug 22-27. We were supposed to do the Eastern Caribbean but Irene came and moved us to the west.

I thought boarding at Miami was pretty smooth. We arrived around 11AM and got through to the waiting area with our S&S cards in about 30 minutes. At X-Ray they opened our 12 pack of soda and checked the water bottles in our case of water. We also carried on 2 bottles of wine (and another case of soda). Boarding the ship was delayed a little bit because of Irene and the new itinerary but we finally were on the boat around 1PM. We got adjoining rooms with the kids in one and me/dw in the other. We got ocean view rooms but for several weeks prior to boarding I was regretting not getting a balcony. Our logic was that we didn't think the kids needed a balcony (and we didn't really want them to have one).

We had early seating at the Universe dining room for dinner. Our table was a smallish 4 person booth with a chair stuck at the end. I thought it was kind of tacky. I understand a family of 5 can be difficult to seat but I would have preferred a shared table over a crowded table top and legs being kicked all week. Our waiter and his assistant were friendly and efficient and the food the first night was enjoyed by everyone. Definitely not a 4 or 5 star experience but that is not what we were expecting in the main dining room. Dinner the rest of the week was pretty good. The highlight was pretty good lobster on formal night...and our waiter brought us extra lobster tails. Read more