I purchased directly through the cruise line and felt that I saved a few dollars and received a better package than going through groupon. After reading other reviews, I had low expectations before boarding. I brought a power strip to overcome the one plug available in the room, a yeti cup since the cups in the buffet were small, and a white noise machine - all were needed and useful and I recommend bringing if you decide to take this cruise.

We have US passports and purchased the Express Pass for $49. I felt the Express Pass was a waste of money, I will go into detail below.

We arrived at the port around 11 am. Valet was efficient, we received our parking slip and were sent to have our luggage tagged. We were approached about adding a concierge package, we declined. We were then sent inside to go through security, quicker than airport security. Once through, you drop your checked luggage down a long hallway and then head upstairs to begin the check in process. Upstairs, there were few people in line, we only had a moment wait before being helped (no need for the express pass). From research, I knew about needing a card on file and the $100 hold. I had prefilled the form and had it ready for checkin. After receiving our cruise cards, we saw all the "extras" available for purchase. We had booked our excursion in advance over the phone. We knew in what we wanted, but were confused on where exactly to go. We figured it out and was able to book a fine dining experience at the Rock Grille (highly recommend!). The employee kept trying to upsell us to a package and push us to eat at the Admiralty Club instead. We declined and headed to purchase a soda package. We had ten free drink coupons through our package, yet the next employee did try to sell us another, we said we just wanted one soda package. We signed a form, received a copy, and got our soda cup. Read more