Embarkation: Embarkation, once we got off of our shuttle bus, was a breeze. However, we had to wait in our bus for about 1/2 hour as the drop off area was very disorganized. There is a lot of construction going on around Port Everglades and the whole port is just a disorganized mess. RCCL's embarkation process was very painless as we were on the ship within 1/2 hour of getting off of the bus. There was some confusion which led to a potential financial impact that I will explain later.

The ship- I believe the ship underwent an upgrade in the past year. We had been on the Freedom of the Seas and this ship is her identical twin for the most part. The only real signs of wear were the carpets in the stateroom hallways. The majority of the interior was spotless. We did see some external painting going on in one of the ports, but I believe that is just normal maintenance. She is a beautiful ship and well maintained.

Our stateroom- We booked a balcony room on the starboard side near the front of the boat. The idea was to be as far from the engines as possible. I know there's different theories as to the best locations to avoid vibration and rocking. Our first two sea days were headlong into a 25-30 knot wind which created an apparent 50 know wind on the deck. The ship rocked more than I thought it would, but it was going into heavy wave action. I still find it funny that the refrigerators are stocked with soft drinks, waters, etc that are extra. We always bring water bottles and remove all the mini-bar items. The bed was not very comfortable, even with an egg crate topper. The shower was great as long as you didn't drop the soap. If you do, you have to open the shower doors to bend down. John, our room steward, was awesome and kept our room clean and fresh. We really enjoyed the balcony views of ports and the ability to sit and listen to the waves at night. I think we were fortunate that we did not have smokers on either side of us. Read more