First cruise, and let me tell you we had an absolute blast!

Embarkation -- The computers were down, but it still went somewhat smooth. Total wait time I would say was about 35 minutes or so since they had to do everything by hand. The luggage man at the terminal was very rushy and ended up flustering my wife ... next thing we know the porter checked our luggage with our birth certificates inside it!!!! Well we made it on the ship anyway, after reassuring the lady in line that our certificates were indeed in the carry on that the porter took ... and off we went.

Room -- Day 1 -- I think we finally ended up taking off from Galveston around 5:15 or so ... I could be wrong but it was definitely quite a bit later than 4. We headed to our room right away and then went up top to a wonderful lunch at the Lido deck. I have heard many people say that they see "water stains" and "signs of aging" ... let me tell you, I did not. Our room was in top notch condition ... yes the carpet screams of the disco era, but its condition was very good. I didn't see anything that really showed her age except for a few scuffs on the wall where luggage had been rubbed and banged against. The bedding was very clean, the comforters were nice and comfy and the pillows were good, better than hotels, but not as good as stuff at home. Bathroom was spotless, no cracks in tub, tile, toilet ... everything showed a perfectly white grout and no tile stains to speak of. I loved the Lever 2000 body wash they provide you in the shower, it worked and I'm gonna buy some when I go to the store next. Shampoo was all right ... and they had no conditioner. Read more