We decided to take a short cruise to celebrate our anniversary and get away from the cold Midwest. We flew from Dayton, Ohio to Miami, Florida with a short layover in Atlanta. When we arrived at the Miami airport there was a problem with baggage claims. It apparently was getting stuck, as we kept hearing the belt stop and stop. Finally, to our relief our luggage arrived (more on luggage to follow). As this was only our second cruise we were unsure whether to take a taxi for take the transportation provided by RCI for 14.00 per person. We opted for the RCI transportation. Two ladies(employees of RCI) encouraged us to leave our luggage with them, assuring us it would follow soon. We got onto a nice, air conditioned bus followed by a several minute lecture by an RCI employee regarding form filling out. The employee was very nice, but my husband was just impatient to get on the boat. We arrived at the port at about 11:30am and were able to get on the ship 1!at 1145am. Luckily, we had the foresight to pack our bathing suits and cover ups in our carry on as our room weren't ready until 2pm. We ate a small lunch at the buffet. Nothing special. We kept checking for our luggage. No luggage!! At about 5:30pm my husband spots it on our floor by the elevator. Needless to say we were quite relieved

Our room was great. Inside stateroom. Bed very comfortable, no noise, like a dark cave. New linens, very nice. The best thing was that the anchor woke us up every morning. The staff is not as attentive as we've noticed on Princess, but everyone was very nice. Some things that weren't attended to were ice in the room, but our room attendant found some tape to patch our suitcase that was apparently torn at the Miami airport. The entertainment on the 1st night was a well known comedian Phil, who has appeared on Jay Leno. Very funny!! Great show!! Cococay-we tendered in the am and booked the waverunner excursion. Everyone else on the waverunner was half our age! Someone fell off (not us) and lost an expensive watch. Moral of the story, don't wear anything expensive. I'm happy with my timex. If I lose, I can buy another one for 30 dollars. The waverunner was a lot of fun, but physically demanding. My legs are sore today, from holding on. They had a nice barbecue with a large selection of food. We didn't try the food. Tenders took us back to the boat. Make sure you take a sunscreen with a big spf if you aren't already suntanned or dark complected.There were quite a few lobster people on the boat in the evening. Formal dinner night, included steak, appetizers escargots, shrimp, strawberry cheesecake. The food was good, but not outstanding. I ordered more deserts, and bread. Bread was fabulous.

Entertainment on this night was a juggling comedian. He had an interesting show, but was working hard for laughs. We also spent some time in the casino donating at least 20.00 to RCI. Our last day we docked in Nassau. We decided to walk around and make some purchases. We walked up to the fort and eavesdropped on the tours being led around the fort (our opinion is it's not worth the money). We then walked down the queens steps and continued shopping. The merchants were very friendly and could be bargained down a bit. We found Nassau to be dirty with trash all over the streets. I'm not sure what their trash pick up situation, or where they can put it, because they are an island nation. I wouldn't recommend walking if you're not in good shape. It's uphill, hot, and the curbs(when there are sidewalks) are high. Back on the ship, we relaxed and spent time in the pools. Then on to our last dinner. We sat with a great couple at dinner. They couldn't have been nicer. They had mahi mahi for dinner and a key lime pie, which even I found too sweet (that doesn't happen often). Also, three of the deserts were on the buffet also. The entertainment was a show from the 70's. Very fun, music was good, but still not quite was I was looking for. We needed to pack for the evening and put our suitcases outside our room. Needless to say we were leery about that. So we opted to meet across from guest relations and carry our luggage (or what was left of it) out. Took a Taxi for 26.00. You could save money here if you had more than 2 people. We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to catch our flight. We had a lot of fun. There were some things they did better, and some things other ships did better. By the way, it look really good after the refitting. Beautiful carpets, entertainment venue, dining rooms.