We boarded in Miami in what was one of the easiest embarkations we've had and we have cruised a lot. We checked in after maybe a 10 minute wait in line, went to a central waiting room where we were given a boarding group number and waited until our number was called. Very efficient and very quick. We were directed to the Garden Café for lunch when we boarded only to find out later that the main dining room (which would have been our preference) was open, as well as O'Sheehan's. The Garden Café, which is their buffet area surprised us. The food was very good. We normally eat at the buffet as little as possible, but the food here was good.

After lunch we explored the ship a little while waiting for our room to be ready. Rooms were ready around 1:00. We had a mini suite with an extended balcony and it was a perfect size for 2 people. The bathroom was huge, probably 3 times a normal cruise ship bathroom. The shower was very large with a rain shower and spa jets. Our balcony was large but no wider that other balcony's, just deeper. We spend a lot of time on the balcony on sea days so we thought the larger balcony would be better, but I'm not sure we would pay extra for that balcony again.

We really aren't into the pool games or game show stuff, so we didn't do those. We visited the casino a couple of times, the slots were pretty tight, we went to the shows at night and all were really good. Burn the floor was excellent. We went to the comedy show a few times and both comedians were pretty funny. We did do the water slides one day and they were so much fun. I was surprised there were no lines, we just walked up and got on the slide. Great fun! The pool area is definitely small, but we don't generally hang out at the pool so we were okay with that. Read more