This was our second cruise on the AoS (April 20 - April 27 itinerary). My wife and I cruised on it about 4 years ago, also to the Southern Caribbean (Aruba, Curacao, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten). As soon as we got on the ship 4 years ago we said that one day soon we had to do this ship again, only we had to bring our kids too. Well, 4 years later we were able to bring them too and neither we nor they were disappointed (children's ages are 11, 13, 14, and 17). The ship was as wonderful the second time around as it was on the first journey, albeit not seeming as "huge" as our first experience. We also had friends with their 3 children (2, 9, & 12 years of age) join us on this cruise and they too had a great time.

We flew out of JFK non-stop on Delta the day before (Sat. April 19) and stayed for the night at the Best Western right in the airport. Very convenient, priced right, very clean and everyone was friendly and kind. There was a slight delay with our flight and then there was an additional delay due to an apparent security breach. We had to all clear the plane and go through security once again. We were scheduled to depart at 8:35am, but instead ended up leaving around 10:45 or so. We landed in San Juan about 2:00pm. After getting our baggage and such we headed to our hotel. We at first went outside and walked a short distance toward the hotel until I realized you do not have to leave the interior of the airport to get to the hotel entrance and check in area. It is literally right across from the AA counters. We checked in, went to our rooms and decided to venture out for an early dinner immediately. We had been to San Juan on a couple of prior stays and a few years back we asked a taxi driver to recommend a restaurant where we could get traditional Puerto Rican food and he recommended a restaurant that was excellent and just what we were looking for. Well, this time around we wanted to take the kids there, but neither my wife nor I could remember the name of the restaurant. When we again asked the taxi driver to recommend a traditional style restaurant, this time around he too recommended the same place. Once my wife heard the name, she knew right away. It has to be good if on two separate occasions, two different people recommended the same place. The name of the restaurant is "El Jibarito" and I recommend it highly. After lunch we walked around a bit and visited the "Fort" for about an hour or so and then decided to head back to the hotel.

The next morning after getting up we went and had the free continental breakfast at the hotel. It was very good and better than many CB offered by other hotels. The Royal Caribbean documents say and when speaking to an agent prior to arriving for the cruise tell you to arrive about 2:00pm for boarding, however, based on past experiences we arrived about 11:00am and boarded the ship at 11:30. Boarding was fast and very pleasant. Line at the pier was not long when we got there, but was getting longer as we started to board. Our cabins were not ready yet so we all went to the Windjammer and had lunch. We found the food at the WJ for lunch during the week to be very good in most cases and changed daily. There was always something you could find at the buffet and if you could not, there was always the pizza and hamburgers/hot dogs. You could also eat lunch at the Cafe Promenade where they have delicious sandwiches and pizza all the time. The ice cream, yogurt ice cream and cookies were great. For us, the desserts were hit and miss at lunch and at dinner. Some that sounded and looked great did not taste that good. I have found this on other cruises too, as well as at some very nice resorts. I pretty much stuck to my ice cream and cookies (peanut butter, oatmeal & chocolate chip). Read more