This was mine and my husbands first experience with Royal Caribbean and the second time we have ever cruised (the first being with Carnival). RC was a pleasant surprise, and we will definitely cruise with them again in the future. We left from Tampa, FL and vacationed with two other couples, which made for a fun time. Regarding the flight prior to the cruise, it was a nightmare. First, the airline company cancelled our initial flight, which had been the morning of the day we were set to sail, so we had to fly in the night before. Our connecting flight in Atlanta was delayed a few hours, so we didnt arrive in Tampa until about 2:00 in the morning. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, however, since the weather in Atlanta was horrendous the day of the cruise and flights were delayed for hours (we would have entirely missed the cruise!). My suggestion is to fly out the night before your cruise if at all possible.
Since checkout time was at 12:00, we decided to head on down to the ship to see how early we could get on even though RC had indicated we wouldnt be able to board until 2:00 p.m. Fortunately, we were able to get onto the ship very quickly and were getting settled into our cabin by 12:30. From there, we met up with the two other couples with whom we were vacationing. Our luggage arrived outside our door within a few hours.
Upon entering our cabin for the first time, we were happy with what we saw. We got one of the interior rooms no frills, least expensive and were pleased with it. Although small, it had everything we needed and we didnt spend too much time in it, anyway. Our friends got a cabin that was one step up from ours and included a large window to the outside but was the same size as ours. I wouldnt have wanted their room because it would have allowed too much light to enter during mornings when we wanted to sleep in&our room was very, very dark. The first evening before dinner, our housekeeper came to introduce herself. She was quite funny and non-intrusive, which I found to be a relief. She cleaned our room twice a day (!!!), left chocolates on our pillows at night, and made fabulous animals out of towels. Our favorite was the monkey which was hanging from the ceiling upon our return from a show one night.