We had the opportunity through the casino for a free cruise that we upgraded a bit. We have sailed Brilliance before and wanted the convenience of a 45 minute drive to the port. We also wanted to include a good friend who lost her husband in the spring--they cruised all of the time and she was wanting to try a short one with friends. It exceeded all of our expectations in service and food. From our parking at Park4Cruise to being whisked through check in to finding tables right away in the Windjammer and so forth, the start of the cruise was perfect. All was right with the world when we arrived at Giovanni's Table for dinner. Christian, our waiter, was the best ever and we have eaten at a Giovanni's Table on the first night of every one of our cruises for the last 5 years--we are Diamond Plus. Any request, he could meet and even exceeded our expectations. We were so impressed that we came back on our last night to be wowed by him once again. All other aspects of the trip were as expected. I even won the 11:00 pm drawing for $500 off my bill in the casino. Even better--right!

We did our own thing in Cozumel and ate once again at La Choza--very traditional Mexican food--yummy Chicken Mole. It is not far off the beaten path of the central plaza and worth the 2-3 blocks for both quality and price.

I beat my hubby in every ping pong and golf game we had--Yeah! We really enjoyed the matinee comedian they had on the last sea day. He brought the kids into the laughs so it was very family oriented and very funny.