We drove down to the cruise. We stopped in Fort Pierce, FL the evening before. Left about 11 am and got to the port around 1 pm. Parked the car in an area parking facility that was much less than the $20 a day for parking at the port. We entered the building and showed our passports and the cruise document. Upstairs to a long, long line. The line had at least 25 agents working but it still took about 35 minutes to reach the counter. Counter process was quick, just fill out health questionaire, show the credit card and soon we had gold seapass cards.

We skipped the photographers near the gangway and proceeded down the gangway to the ship where we were greeted by several people offering drinks--both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. They also had an area for children to be signed up for their safety bands. We took the glass elevators up to deck 9 and found our cabin.

The cabin was nice. I am a big person so the room (or lack thereof) wasn't too big a problem. There was no way for more than one person to get past however. Our room steward stopped by to talk with us but he didn't get to as the cruise director was on the loud speakers reminding everyone about the safety drill. We were able to meet him after the safety drill. Read more