Sailed on the Serenade March 3rd out of San Juan. We had chosen to stay in the Sheraton Old San Juan the day before and found this to be a very nice hotel. We dined in the restaurant they had in the hotel (can't remember the name) and found this to be not so great. It was a great hotel to see the ships coming in and out of the piers and a great location to walk around and take in the sights of Old San Juan.
Getting onto the ship was such a breeze!!! I have cruised only once before about ten years ago and this time seemed to be so much easier. We chose to do the Online Check-In which seemed to save us a lot of time. Before we knew it, we were on the Serenade in no time!
Overall, our cabin was above and beyond what we expected. It was always clean and anything we needed, our stateroom attendant was more than happy to assist us. The balcony was a great addition to the room, very generous in size and provided great pictures when passing Isle of Montserrat (hope I spelled that right) as well as the Pitons. If you can afford it, upgrade yourself to the balcony. You won't regret it.