We were booked on the Feb. 17-24th sailing. What a great time! Since I have been on here for the last 4 months learning what I could about everybody's experience on the ship, I thought it only fair that I put some of what I learned on here. Embarkation: We arrived in San Juan the night before we sailed. We stayed at Da'House Hotel (very eclectic, and extremely loud on wknds, but CHEAP!) The taxi from airport to Da'House was 22$ for the two of us and 2 suitcases/2 carry-ons. Awoke the next morning and could see our ship's tail over the buildings. Walked down the cobblestone streets to the pier. The ship was leaving from Pier 4 that day. (Approximately a 10 mn walk and all down hill). Once at the pier, easy to navigate. Fun games going on by the duty-free liquor store. Great deals! Bought some bottles and put them in our carry-ons....they aren't lying when they say you can get the alcohol on the ship no questions asked! Once on board, went to Lido deck for some lunch. I have heard complaints that some ppl were not impressed with the food or the drink service. All I can say about this is that they are feeding 3000 ppl. The food selection is adequate and reminds me a lot of pretty much any buffet that you would pay to eat at. As for the drink service, I would bet that we were asked 30-40 times (ON THE FIRST DAY) if we would like a drink from the time we boarded until we went to bed at 10:30 that nite. St Thomas: Great port, beautiful water! We took a ferry to Tortola for the afternoon....unbelievable the scenery you are able to see from the ferry (lots of little islands...) Great time! Dominica: We wandered thru the streets and did some shopping. We also booked the Wacky Rollers Ziplining Adventure and had a GREAT time! Everyone who worked there seemed to have a lot of fun and that made it even easier to relax and enjoy yourself. (I'm terrified of heights and did almost all of it without hesitation!) Barbados: Had talked to a couple the previous day and they suggested going to Holetown Beach (about a 25mn ride from the ferry & cost 25$ one way). I would not do this again, although there is a bar on the beach and the sand is great, the swimming is not as the bottom is hard, uneven coral and I fell many times trying to make my way out. I'm sure there are probably much nicer, closer beaches to spend your day at. Although, there were some gentlemen that were renting out jet-skis and also putting together ppl for the Turtle Encounter/Snorkeling Excursion (same as on the ship) $ they were charging $30/pp. What a deal! Wish he would've asked us earlier as we wouldn't have made it back to the ship in time. St. Kitts: WOW! What a gorgeous island, we were pretty tired out by this time in the cruise, so we decided to skip tours and shore excursions and just hang out. Very new, well developed shopping area (very commercialized) so don't expect street peddlers, etc. We found a small cafe on the main strip on the right side with cheap, great food and $2 beers. (This is where the crew was eating at). While walking around there was also 2 guys with pet monkeys...they would walk up to you, put the monkey on your shoulder and tell the person you're with to take a picture. Once they did, they would take the monkey off your shoulder and tell you that 2 pictures cost 5$. My boyfriend had taken only 1 picture, so I told them I would give him a dollar. He said, "Give me two and that'll be good." Kind of weird I thought. ...but that's the island atmosphere I guess! Very fun! LaRomana: I have to agree with most of the reviews I've read on here, when pulling into this port, there's nothing there but chain fence and barbed-wire. We didn't go into town as we heard from many others that it was dirty and the souvenir sellers were very pushy and would try yelling at you from across the street to get you away from their competitors and to persuade you to come to their shops. We stayed on ship. The next day we decided to take the Catalina Island Beach Break and we were so glad we did. Absolutely GORGEOUS!!! We rented snorkel equipment as they had a specially roped-off place for just this and saw a GREAT variety of fish. Water was great, clean and we had a great time. The perfect weather didn't hurt, either. The SHIP: You have probably read many of the same reviews I did before sailing. The ship is old, but is well-maintained. Every single day you would see the crew working on the boat. 3 of the days they were actually painting the hull (hanging out over the water). The waitstaff is wonderful and our room steward was the most attentive I've had. (Jose). GREAT!!! All in all, I'm not sure what some ppl are expecting at the prices we are paying (compared to some of the other lines). There were many ppl we heard complaining on the ship re: rooms or food. I believe there are some ppl that you can never please. If you go on a ship looking for negatives, you will find them no matter what boat you are on. We were ready to de-stress and enjoy our time away in the sun (never a day below 80!!!) Which is great when you're from Minnesota! Well, that's all I can think of. I hope this helps some! Have a GREAT vacation!!!