By now you have probably realized I am really slow in getting my trip report out. I may not even do one....I am so crazy busy. Here is what I can say....
*When checking in online, we had to pick a block of time to arrive at the port. There were only a few arrival times left, so I believe we picked 12PM. We arrived a bit earlier and didn't have much of a wait. Actual boarding began at about 12 Noon. Upon check in, you are given a card with a number on it. That number is your boarding number. We had number 19, so we had to wait until all previous numbers were called. We finally boarded at 1PM.
*There is only one Sail Away Party at 4:30PM on the Deck Stage. Now, it poured rain the day we sailed, so it was moved inside to the atrium.
*Staterooms ready at 1:30PM
*Mandatory Lifeboat Drill at 4:00PM. Life Jackets do not need to be taken to drill. However it is critical that you bring your key to the world card to your assembly station.
*Two showtimes....6:15PM and 8:30PM. We had a special matinee performance of Disney's Believe on our last night. I believe the showtime was 4:00PM. Not sure if they do this on all voyages.
*Pirates in the Caribbean Party 7:45-8:05PM Decks 11 and 12. At 10:30PM, is Buccaneer Blast on Decks 11 and 12, which is a fireworks display. This is directly followed with Club Pirate, decks are transformed into a dance club with a guest DJ.
*See ya Real Soon Party was night before you disembark in the Lobby Atrium at 4:15 and 10:15pm.
Pretty much, everything was the same. You can definitely tell the ship is bigger though. The wait to get on an elevator is a lot longer and the walk to your room takes a lot longer, but that comes with having a bigger ship. The pools are very tiny and the hot tubs are too. I did not step foot in any of the pools, no room. The hot tubs looked like sardines in a can. Very crowded (mostly with kids).
The way Shutters stores your pictures is different too. I actually really liked it. You scan your KTTW card at a kiosk and it tells you where to find your folder with all your pictures. You can also look at your pictures at the kiosk if you don't actually want to go to the shelf and get your folder. Our pictures were in the Minnie Case, #16 or something like that. Shutters is still very tiny and you have to find room to sit down with your folder of pictures, as they won't let you leave the room to look through them. It gets so crowded, especially on the last night.
You eat breakfast in the restaurant you dined in the night before. If you had late dining then you eat at the second breakfast time the next morning. The food was wonderful, service was great each time, minus once. We decided to do breakfast a la carte one morning and went down to Royal Palace for breakfast at around 9:30-9:45am. Not a big deal, had horrible service, people next to us left their table. Long story short....the hostess sat us in a closed section and our table wasn't assigned a server because it was CLOSED!! We were apologized to over and over and it was an honest mistake. No worries.
Overall, we had a great time. I thought everything was organized and well executed. I honestly had no complaints. Can't wait to go back in September. Hopefully, I have given you good ideas as what to expect. If you have any questions, let me know. I will try to answer them for you. I will have pictures up later in the week. It just takes me a while. Sorry. Let me know what you think of my mini trip report.
Kelly
Don't get me wrong....we had a BLAST last year watching the fireworks from TOTWL, but we have never done the wishes or illuminations cruises, so we'd really like to try one of those. But we hope to meet up again afterwards...so you are planning on hanging around for drinks and appetizers afterwards, right?
...unless the BOSS decides we're going on the Wishes or Illuminations B2B2B cruise. 
We want to party with the Cool Kids! 
Chicago Dismeet. 
