We flew out of Hartford,Ct on an early morning flight aboard American Airlines enroute to San Juan, Puerto Rico on Saturday, May 3,2008 a day ahead of our cruise. My boyfriend and I went through a local travel agent and arranged to go a day ahead of the cruise and stay overnight in a hotel in San Juan because last year we faced several delays and almost missed our cruise because our plane had been so delayed so many times. Everything went fine this time and our plane took off as scheduled. We had a nice flight and arrived in San Juan as scheduled, got our luggage and got a taxi to take us to our hotel. We stayed at the Sheraton, Old San Juan which was in an ideal location. When we went to check in, they didn't have our reservation in the computer although, the travel agent gave us a confirmation. We booked this a year in advance. The Hotel gave us a room at the rate of $190.00 as we were quoted by the travel agent. We went up to our room which was a partial bay view room, very clean and decent-sized.I would definitely recommend this hotel as well as recommend going a day ahead of time just for peace of mind. It also gives you a chance to explore the island before going on the cruise. The hotel had a nice roof-top pool and hot tub, a casino and gym and a couple of restaurants. In any case, we went up to our room, left our luggage, freshened up and went out to do the Bacardi tour. The ferry was right across the street from our hotel and it only costs .50 one-way, round trip for two, $2.00. In any case,its a short trip on the ferry, then you take a taxi to The Bacardi Rum Factory which is a really nice tour and you get two complimentary drinks. The Factory is very big, many buildings and the history is very interesting. After, the Bacardi Tour, we explored Old San Juan. Our hotel bell-hop suggested Raices as the place to dine. He said to look for a lady with a white turban standing in front of the restaurant. This restaurant was excellent. There is often a wait because it is so popular but the wait is well worth it. The food was traditional puerto-rican cuisine and it was delicious. After that we had the best pina coladas at a place called Barrachinas which is supposedly the birthplace of the pina colada. They were the best pina coladas I have ever had and well worth the visit. No other pina coladas compare. We went back to our hotel as we were getting up early in the morning to do a half-day excursion to El Yunque Rainforest before the cruise. I highly recommend this excursion while in Puerto-Rico. It was amazing! We got up early and ate at the hotel due to our early morning excursion.The breakfast buffet was $18.00 per person. It was very good but kind of pricey. If we had time we would have tried something down the street. The front desk held our luggage while we were on our excursion and we came back, collected it and took a taxi to the Pan American Pier where Adventure of The Seas was docked. Carnival docks their ship across the street from our hotel. How convenient that would have been if Royal Caribbean was there. It would have saved us a $15.00 taxi ride.

Day 1

We boarded the ship with ease. The boarding process was quick and very efficient. We had very little waiting time. Less than 30 min. We found our room easily. Everything on this ship is user-friendly and easy to find. We had one of the newer types of rooms. It was an inside cabin overlooking the Royal Promenade. We were on deck 8. It was a nice room, but the bathroom was very small as well as the shower. It was fairly quiet on deck 8. Some people on lower decks with this type of room complained of noise from the Royal Promenade but we didn't have this problem. Next time we would probably get a balcony as many people we talked to said that they highly recommend it. We set out to explore our ship and find our table in the dining room. We were in the Mozart Dining room on deck 5 and had a nice location in front of a large window facing the ocean. The dining room staff was exceptional and catered to your every need but the food could have been better. The Salmon and cod were terrible. very mushy and flavorless. Stick with the beef, chicken or pasta dishes. The ship is beautiful and well decorated as well as clean. The dining rooms are beautiful and all decorated very differently but with the theme of composers. We ate at the main seating (6pm) and then went to see the Welcome Aboard show before going out on the deck to watch our ship set sail. Day 2 Day two was spent cruising. This was a relaxing day spent by the pool on the lido deck. Lunch was in the Windjammer cafe. That evening brought the first formal night and pictures. You will spend a fortune on pictures because everytime you turn around they are taking your picture. Day 3 We arrived in Aruba at 8:00 a. We absolutely loved Aruba. We did the DePalm Island Snorkeling tour. I highly recommend this tour. The snorkeling is great. We saw a lot of very colorful, exotic fish including some very large, blue parrot fish. They provided us with all snorkeling equipment, a full breakfast buffet and lunch buffet as well as unlimited drinks. There is also a water park area for kids, lockers, gift shop and changing/shower areas. After the excursion, we walked through the main shopping areas of Oranjestad and found the people to be very friendly and what we liked was that nobody pesters you to buy anything as they do on some islands. There are some really good deals on souvenirs here. Day 3 We arrived in Curacao at 8:00a. Curacao was a really neat place. Very Dutch in its architecture. I loved the pastel colors of the buildings. We did the UNESCO World Heritage Walking Tour and ended our walking tour with a visit to the Maritime Museum. Again, another port where you are not pestered to buy anything. Day 4 Cruising day. Too windy to sit out by the pool. We ended up doing some of the activities listed in our compass. That evening was the 2nd and final formal dinner. Day 5 St.Maarten. Another favorite of ours. We loved this island too. We didn't do any excursions here. We did some shopping on our own and found that they have great deals on jewelry. We also relaxed at the beach by the cruise ship. The prices are relatively cheap here. You can buy a Heineken for .99 now that's cheap. Day 6 St. Thomas. We weren't very impressed with St.Thomas however we liked our excursion to Magen's Bay. It's a very beautiful beach and the lookouts that we went to for photographs were phenomenal. Read more