Unlurking and 1st cruise

Hi all,
Have been reading here for a couple of weeks and you have been infectious
and caused me to book my first cruise. My son (15) and I will be traveling
Royal Caribbean Splendour out of Galveston for a 5 night just before
Christmas. Going to Cozumel and Costa Maya. Any info would be much
appreciated. Have a rear balcony on the rear of the ship on deck 7. Lucked
into it I'm told as they are very desirable and go quickly.
A bit about us. I am 55 male and single parent of soon to be 15 yr old son.
We have done most of our traveling to Orlando the past few years, but that
was getting old. I think a cruise sounds like a great alternative. I have a
bad back and am looking forward to milder activity. My son, of course, is a
teenager and is considerably more active. I'm hoping a cruise will be just
the ticket for both of us. We will have to upgrade our wardrobe some if we
want to participate in semi/formal dining. Suits have been out of our
lifestyle for some time now. Or I suppose we can skip the formal altogether
and eat elsewhere. That would mean skipping a steak and a lobster dinner.
Fortunately, I have much time to think about this. :-)
I have been doing some research on the ports we are headed towards. There is
much to learn.
GaryZ