Our group of 8 booked this cruise over a year ago. We were victims of Hurricane Ike, so we were not sure until the Saturday before we left if we would be able to go. Luckily we did! Smooth flight out of Houston, Texas on Continental. We stayed at Courtyard Marriott Isla Verde Beach Resort. Had great views of the ocean and beach. This hotel is abouta 10 to 15 minute taxi ride from the cruise terminal. Getting on the ship was a breeze. It took less than 20 minutes to go through the line and check in. We were on board by 12:15 or so. Our rooms were not ready until 2:00, so we were off to the Windjammer to eat a great lunch! Rooms were great and ready right before 2:00. We were in the promenade rooms. Loved them! Had probably the best room steward ever! Love the hot tea bar in the Cafe Promenade. The bartenders at Cafe Promenade were great! Dinner was early seating and our waiters were fabulous! The food was delicious and plentiful every single night! We enjoyed the pool deck and hot tubs, the casino was fun. So many nice and helpful people to help you lose and hopefully win some money! Quest was a hoot! Our group won 2nd place! Our stops were Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maartin and St. Thomas. Beautiful and different every one! We especially Herod's tour in St. Lucia. We would highly recommend him. Orient Beach was recommended to us from some fellow travelers in St. Maartin and we were not disappointed! Absolutely beautiful! The drink on this island is the Quavaberry Colada! I highly recommend a few of these! Wonderful!!! The shopping in St. Thomas was my favorite. So much and so little time! ha! There was so much to do on the ship, that I know we missed something. The ice show was great! The shops on this ship were more than adequate. Everyone was so friendly and pleasant! This was our fifth cruise with RCCL so my husband and I are now considered platinum members. Getting off the ship was probably the easiest ever. Our friends traveling with us are not platinum yet, but they were off only about 20 minutes or so after us. A very pleasant experience. You will have to go through customs early in the morning in St. Thomas, but this was painless as well and got us a good start to our last day in paradise! We will definitely cruise this ship again!