We came to Orlando a day before the cruise since it's winter and have unpredictable wintry weather! We took a shuttle to the port from our hotel that we booked. Our driver was helpful to tell where to go. If we didn't ask, we wouldn't have had a smooth embarkation. There wasn't much signage exactly where to go after you drop off your luggage. I want to note that if you didn't print off your tags, I'm not exactly sure if there were extra by the porters. Don't forget to tip them, the tip was a wide range some people gave $10 and others gave over $20. I travelled with my son and his father.

The ship itself was easy to find different places, there were maps before you into the elevators which was helpful. There were people to help you to find places. Our inside cabin was small and we were at the front. As a first time cruiser, it was terrible, I had severe sea/motion sickness. Our steward Lee was excellent, he remembered all of our names on embarkation day and he was very friendly and helpful. He cleaned our room wonderful and was always respectful if you put the DND sign. The Garden Cafe/Terrace was helpful if you wanted to grab a quick snack which was served buffet style. Having only 3 options for breakfast: Garden Cafe/Terrace, O'Sheehan's and Taste (the 2 latter opened a little later). Garden Cafe breakfast was good but got mundane if you wanted other things to eat. Again lunch was the same and you had Taste as another option. Again a bit mundane if you go to the Garden Cafe for lunch (same types of items) day in day out. Dinner at the complimentary restaurants were great. We had a NYE dinner menu by Manhattan Room, my beef was best I have had! We only went to the complimentary restaurants for dinner. If you want to go to Shanghai, make sure you reserve or else you will end up waiting for a long time!

Being on a tight budget, we didn't go to anything extra whether it be restaurants, entertainment or drinks. We attempted to go to the first Bingo session they had and walked out immediately because it was too expensive to play and wait a 1 or 2 for special Bingo time (which cost less) to play. It was our first time playing Bingo and enjoyed it! The complimentary shows didn't seem so appealing and we didn't go to any comedy shows or anything at the Cavern Club. We eventually saw Joel Meyers (magician) perform a matinee and night show. It was so good that we went to his matinee show (both his shows were in different venues at the ship). We didn't know at the beginning that playing along with trivia (enrichment activities) would earn us some prizes so half way of the cruise we started collecting stamps on our card. Our first time we play we didn't get a card which I think they should always have extra copies of. I really enjoyed it because you learn something new! They also have themed trivia which was fun as well. They also offered during port days how to make animal towels and napkin folding which is something unique and fun to learn (at least for me). I got to know more of the staff when doing activities like this and building rapport. Unfortunately, we couldn't attend any NYE events, due to my motion sickness but I talked to others and they say it was fun. Read more