DH and I are part of a cruise group called, "It's 5:00 Somewhere". We are all from the Toledo, Ohio, area, and are all middle aged "empty-nesters". This was our third group cruise on RCCL - we also cruised in March 2004 in Voyager OTS and in March 2006 on Explorer OTS. There were 28 of us on this sailing. DH and I have also been on three other RCCL cruises (in 2003, 2006, and 2007). We have additional cruises planned for Fall 2008 and Spring 2010.
Our group decided to book this cruise in Summer 2006, not long after it was released for booking. We had cruised the Eastern and Western itineraries and wanted to go to some new ports of call. The Southern itinerary was a logical choice. A few people in the group had been to the southern ports before, but only one couple had sailed Adventure OTS before to the ports on this sailing. We booked through a local travel agent we that the group had used in the past in order to get the perks that come with a group booking. We did not all book at the same time, nor did we book airfare or hotels through RCCL or the travel agent. Each couple was responsible for getting to San Juan to board the ship on their own.
Pre-Cruise