My husband and I booked this cruise three weeks out for a relaxing break from work and Spring Break for my husband, who went back to college. My parents booked the cruise about 2 weeks out, because it was also time for a break for them! This was my 6th cruise, my husband's 4th cruise and my parent's 3rd cruise. Yes, we love cruising!

We woke up to a sunny and beautiful Florida day! We made our way to the port around 9am and got to the port around 10am. My husband and I previously checked-in in online and had our baggage tags already. My parents couldn't check in online for some reason, so they had to check in the old fashioned way, standing by a table in the sun while a person went down a very very long list of names! They got their baggage tags, and we dropped off our baggage.

Ahead of time, I researched and did not want to pay the $90 to park. So instead, we opted to park at the Radisson, which charged $4.95 a night ($35 total). It was nice because we had already dropped our baggage off, so when we drove to the Radisson to drop off our minivan and get into the shuttle, it was relatively easy and painless. (Boy my opinion changed by the end but save that for later) We walked and waited in a very short line to officially check in. We learned from our last cruise that the Sign and Sail card, which was attached directly to our bank account was a bad idea, so we just put in $120 cash. ($20/day plus some wiggle room). We had previously paid for the one ship's excursion as well as for the tips. Read more