I had read so many reviews about the embarkation process that I was a little worried about getting on board and was really surprised that we were on board and in our stateroom in less than 20 minutes. The announced on board time was listed as 2PM and we arrived by about 10 after dropped our luggage went through the check-in line in about 10 minutes waited a short time for the on board picture taking and immediately on board could not have been easier. Had lunch in the Windjammer nice variety and not crowded at all in fact I commented to my wife that I wondered where everybody was. Obviously each boarding is going to be different but our experience could not have been better.

There has also been a lot of talk about the condition of the public areas and yes I would agree that there were some spots that could use a little paint and there were some stains on the carpets but I would warrant that two weeks after Adventure of the Seas comes out of the planned refit that there will be stains on the carpets and there will be a few places that have some chipped paint. I was really expecting the ship to be in very bad shape but I did not find anything that either dirty or not in working order. Our stateroom was clean and with some exceptions for some small paint chips was in good shape. Maybe I'm just not picky enough.

Ports--Our itinerary included stops in St. Croix, St. Marteen, Antigua, St. Lucia and finally Barbados. The stop in St. Croix is very nearly worthless many years ago we had visited St Thomas and really liked it but St. Croix does not have the infrastructure to support tourism and after visiting with a couple of shop owners does not seem inclined to want to develop the trade. The few shops were fronted by sidewalks and streets in great need of repair. I would not bother to go back. St. Maarten was the reason we chose this trip and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there. I recommend the Butterfly farm, Sunset beach where the planes land and the shopping is about the best. Antigua great for history buffs I enjoyed the restored buildings at Nelson's boat yard beaches are very good and the shopping is ok. St Lucia was probably my favorite try the Cosol tour you can book it on line or just walk off the ship and look for the guys carrying the Colsol signs they offer a complete tour of the island featuring a trip to a volcano, the beach and a boat tour of the Pitons which are spectacular plus a bunch of other stops and all the beer rum punch water and sodas you can drink. Barbados not my favorite but a lot of people really like this island I was not impressed. Read more