[KiKi]

We just returned from the 7 night Eastern a month and a half ago. Let me just start by saying that you will LOVE the cruise. It is such a wonderful vacation, I can't stop telling people about how great it was. I can't wait to go back again.

I'll try to answer some of your questions:

1. We had the late seating for dinner, but not by choice. Our children are 9 and 6 and we found the late seating too late for them. Most nights my ds6 was too tired to eat by the time we got to supper. If I was travelling without children I would prefer the late seating because it gives you more time to get ready for supper without feeling rushed, especially on the days you are visiting an island. I'm not sure of the ages of the people in your party, but if it is just you and your husband, late seating should not be a problem.

2. We didn't do any excursions with Disney, but I think one excursion on each island should be okay. The Dolphin encounter in Tortola sounds amazing. It will definately take up your whole day as the ship leaves early from St-Thomas, either 4 or 5pm.

4. We arranged our own airfare, flew in the day before, rented a car and drove to Port Canaveral Friday night, stayed at The Radisson, returned the car in Port Canaveral on Saturday morning and took their shuttle to the cruise terminal. Total cost of our car rental was under $40. If you don't mind driving yourself this is a great way to save some money. If you can manage flying in the day before I would highly recommend it. You never know what can happen with your flight.

5. We didn't have the Romance Package, but being able to book Palo in advance is definately a nice advantage.

6. We booked a category 12GTY and were upgraded to a category 10 (inside deluxe). I absolutely would do this again! I did not find it dark or depressing to not have a window. There is a large round mirror where the porthole would be if it were an outside cabin and this gives a slight illusion of a porthole. We spent very little time in our room. When we were there it was usually to clean up and get ready for meals. Yes, it would have been nice to have a window, or a verandah, but for us it came down to a choice of being able to go on the cruise with an inside cabin or not going at all. I was not disappointed! The cabins are very nice. The split bath with the deluxe room is nice (we had 4 people to get cleaned up at the end of the day), so it made it much more efficient. But even if we didn't have the split bath it would have been okay.

Ask away if you have any other questions!