We stayed in the Holiday Inn Express Convention Center/Cruiseport. It was in a great location and had a free airport shuttle. The beds weren't the most comfortable, but otherwise it was fine for an overnight. They had a shuttle to the cruise port, but it was not free. Unless you're traveling alone, a taxi would be cheaper.

We arrived at the port about 11 AM. Boarding did not start till about noon, but went very smoothly. We stayed in a superior verandah suite. The room was nice enough and the room steward provided great service. We did have a problem with the bathroom light, but it was fixed promptly. Some have mentioned issues with AC and plumbing. Fortunately, both were fine in our room. Sometimes there was a delay of several seconds between hitting the flush button and the toilet actually flushing, but it always flushed eventually. I assumed this might be normal for a vacuum type flushing system.

The ship seemed to be well maintained and clean. This is not to say it looked like a new ship. It looked like a well maintained 10 year old ship. I thought the decor was quite dated in some areas. There was liberal use of smoked mirrors and brass. I've definitely been on ships that I thought were more attractive, but hopefully the upcoming dry dock will include updating the decor. There were scattered toilets with out of order signs, but I can't recall any restrooms that were entirely closed. My biggest complaint was an objectionable odor that seemed to surround every toilet on the ship, including in the cabin. Fortunately it wasn't strong enough to make the entire bathroom smell bad. Read more