Our journey begins on Friday, Nov. 21st. as we depart for Miami from the great state of Iowa. Our flights were uneventful and we quickly found ourselves enroute to the Days Inn Airport North. Our travel agent recommended this hotel and we accepted because it had a free shuttle from the airport and to the pier. I have only 2 words to say about the hotel and the free shuttle. BIG MISTAKE!!!!!!! DO NOT. I REPEAT. DO NOT STAY AT THE DAYS INN AIRPORT NORTH. I have never stayed in a hotel that was as dirty, grungy, filthy, downtrodden, unclean ARGH. The hotel is run and appears to be managed by people that speak fluent spanish and broken english. Their influence is obvious. Enough about the hotel Let's move on to the trip. We arrived at the pier at 11:00 and we were in our cabin, ready to explore at 11:20.
Embarkation was swift, friendly and enjoyable. Our cabin was a little smaller than what we have experienced on other cruise lines but it was very clean and comfortable. One aspect we really enjoyed was the fact that we had shower doors and not shower curtains. The only disappointment {and it was minor} was that the in room refrigerator would not hold a cold temp. Now on to the boat. As you pull up to the pier you will awed and amazed at the sheer size and grandeur of this ship. It is huge and it is clean. R.C.C.L takes great pride in keeping its ship in proper condition. You will see people all over the boat cleaning and cleaning. The fun part is that you see them but they are never in the way. After emptying our suitcase and duffel bag {her is a helpful hint-pack light and carry on your luggage/bags. This way you do not have to wait until 10:00 to receive a change of clothes.}
we took off to explore the ship. What a wonder of modern technology. start in the Grand Promenade. Buy a drink at the first bar you find and bask in the glory of this ships grandest feature. You will find virtually everything you could want in the promenade. Food, drinks, souveniers, trinkets, clothing, personal items and possibly new friends. The employees go above and beyond when helping their vacationers or joining in with their vacationers. Be prepared to hear "MY PLEASURE". This is the R.C.C.L. mantra and they mean it. Make sure that you explore the entire ship. Look in every nook and cranny. You will be surprised at you will find and the number of quiet, intimate places you can find to have fun. Shall we discuss the 2nd. reason we took this cruise?