We like to travel as much as we can with our kids (ages 8 and 4). Cruises, in general, are a great way to do that without breaking the bank. This cruise was no different. We planned the trip only about 30 days out, but had an outside cabin that suited the 4 of us just fine (#3032). There was tons of storage! For a week of clothing for 4 people, we were able to keep things neat. This cruise is a busy cruise. With several ports (St. Croix, St. Marten, Antigua, St. Lucia, and Barbados) in a short amount of time, you are definitely busy. We did more excursions through RCL than we normally do, but you can save some money if you do them yourself. You just need to be educated on what types of things you do as there's a risk for some things that you may not want to take.

In St. Croix, we just took a taxi to Sand Castle Beach and hung out for the day. It cost $5/person for the taxi/access to Sand Castle Beach. Then we paid $10 for two chairs and got an umbrella for free because they guy didn't feel lilke moving it. We loved the beach, access to restrooms and the bar, and the taxi was there to take us back when we wanted (They come around every 20-30 minutes).

St. Martaan is a place we've been to before. We took the RCL excursion of the underwater explorer (a glass bottom boat of sorts). It was a great trip, the kids enjoyed the brevity of the tour and we got a ton of great photos of sea life. Read more