This trip was a family affair. After a bad start to the year we decided to vacation as a family plus some. My husband & I, our daughter, her boyfriend, our son and his 3 friends are the merry travelers. All the "kids" are in their twenties and 3 of them are first time cruisers. After much talk we decided to go with Adventure of the Seas out of San Juan. Nice price so we could afford to upgrade to a veranda cabin & when we booked the airfare wasn't that bad to San Juan. We booked our cruise through a TA.  Great people! We will book our airfare & pre cruise hotel on our own. The kids will fly in the day of the cruise but DH & I will fly in the day before. We got a great deal on Hotwire.com for the Intercontinental Hotel. After claiming our bags in Puerto Rico, we found the Puerto Rico Tourism Bureau booth to ask about taxis (as no hotels have shuttles). You will find these folks easily they are in orange shirts. We really like this idea. You knew you were going to get a good cab for a set price. The hotel is only 5 minutes away from the airport. It hides behind a wall & trees. We got there early in the morning so we checked in & were able to leave our bags there. This way we could go explore. It is a fabulous hotel. The grounds were beautifully done. You could almost stay there without ever leaving. The pool area was an oasis, fountains, hot tub and the pool with its own waterfall. After passing all that the beach is in sight. It was a sunny day so the view was wonderful. There is a bar/restaurant at the beach. We know that eating there would be pricey but after a long morning we decided just to eat there. The beachfront restaurant was nice. We were able to sit on the sand & look out over the ocean. We checked out the casino area. It was nice. Our room would not be ready for awhile so after lunch we took a cab to the Bacardi distillery. Once there we took the 45 minute tour. It was nice & free! You also get 2 tickets to get free drinks. It is a very informative tour. As you have read before, you do not see any part of the distillery but the history is very interesting. We loved the smelling part. Yes they have a section that has various rums and you get to smell the differences. That was very unique. After returning to the hotel our room was ready. We had a city view which was fine with us since we could watch the planes come in. The room was nice. It showed it age though. The water dripped in the tub, there was a rusty scale & there were some holes in the bathroom wall. The staff was so friendly and patient with our questions. Again we were lazy & had dinner at the beach. After finishing dinner we finally got a chance to go swimming in the ocean. We were having fun for about 20 minutes when it started to rain and rain hard. So out of the ocean into the covered areas of the pool we went. It did stop raining however it was a precursor to our week at sea. Tomorrow on to the ship! We were traveling 9/21/08 on the Adventure of the Seas - the Aruba, Curacao, St. Thomas, St. Maarten itinerary. The view of AOS as you pull in is impressive. She is big & looks imposing. Our cab got us to the pier early, about 9:30 - 10, it was a rainy day. We were trying to meet friends who were getting off the ship but they had already left. So we dropped off our bags at the drop off area. These guys put the bags in crates to be moved to the ship. Be aware that they want you to tip them. Even at this early hour there is a line. About 30 minutes prior to the doors opening a crew member comes out to give you some forms to be filled out. They also tell you what you need at to go through customs and at the counter. This can be very helpful for the first time cruiser. At 11:30 they open the doors. Well they open 2 sets of doors with customs agents checking passports & IDs. These folks handle this quickly. Going through the machine is fast also. They then move you through the line to the RCCL counter. Staff moves you quickly to the next available counter agent. If you have pre-printed your sea pass paperwork (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!) the staff is able to check your ID, credit card & then print up the Sea passes. You are then directed to board the ship. The walkway to the ship is a wide, covered gradual walkway so those with special needs or must take their time walking can do so without delaying anyone else. It was rainy on our trip (that's an understatement) so the cover was nice. As you get to the top, there is a spot for embarkation pictures. They make it fast so there is little wait time to do this if you choose to. Just stand in the marked off areas & click! From there it's only a few yards to actually getting on board this large beautiful ship. Once on board you are directed inside to have your picture taken for your sea pass. As you walk inside there is a crew member handing out anti-bacterial wipes to all who are entering. You hand them your card, smile, they hand you back your card... all done. Another scan of you & your carry on and your on board! Your vacation starts! Total time 15 minutes!!! This is a great system. Once on board you are immediately greeted with people selling wine package, soda package & a table for kids programs & wristbands. This is a bit much right near the entrance. Maybe move it back a bit to let people get inside. There was a slight wait to get in at times because of these tables. It was nice to be able to get up to Windjammer. The entry way hosted the same soda & wine tables as at the entrances. As usual the food was varied and nice. Over the course of the week we ate there a lot. They only minor items we would suggest they change are the placement of the hamburger add-ons (lettuce, onion etc) - put them AFTER the burgers not before, this screw up the line. The other is to get chairs that allow for regular size bottoms not to get pinched. It seems to me that if you are not a size 8 you don't sit comfortably in those chairs. The dinning room is beautiful. The staff fantastic and willing to make your dining experience they best you've ever had. The food is great & plentiful. The chairs here too are bottom pinchers but they do have non-bottom pinchers available so just ask. We were celebrating our son's birthday and our wait staff helped us surprise him. They gave him the special treatment. We did not get a chance to go to try Portofino's but heard it was worth the extra money. Any time you got off or on the ship it was a fast process. If you are brining alcohol back on board they do scan for it. Once they spot the bottle they signal an employee who directs you to a stand where they take it & give you a receipt for it. It will appear in your room on the last night. We had a balcony room deck 6 aft. Even being so close to the elevators and across from the steward's area, this room was nice. The bathroom seemed a bit more roomy than an inside cabin. With plenty of closet and drawer space we were able to put away all our clothes. The suitcases fit nicely under the bed & in the closet. The bed was sooo nice! Usually we have sore backs on a strange bed but not on this one. Perfect. Our meet & mingle was Monday at 5 pm in the Blue Moon Lounge. It was pouring rain outside so there wasn't a great view but we had a nice time meeting everyone from the CruiseCritic.com boards. Our group did a couple of things. First a few of us met the night before at the Schooner Bar for a Poker Run. Well it turned into a Poker Sit. Which we felt worked better. It had been decided that every player would put into the pot at the beginning then the winner and the person with the worst hand would split the pot. Some people also took part in a scavenger hunt. Players got a list of items on embarkation day and they had until the M&M to collect them. The prizes were small items donated by the players from each person's hometown. We had 1 young man collect all 12 items on the list! The staff was so nice and helpful. Everyone from our room steward & waiters to the folks at the main desk who gave us tape to put up our son's birthday decorations, all were friendly and willing to help out with any request. They were also willing to have some fun. I wish I could say the same about many of those on board. We feel that we traveled with some of the rudest people ever. There was always a rush into the elevators before anyone could exit. Many people would stand in the elevator door talking while those inside had to wait for the conversations to finish. With the rainy weather we had most things were moved inside. This put the welcome aboard parade back 2 days. Since we had rain most of this trip (only Thursday was sunny all day) the ship ran a cleaning special. Fill the bag for $20. It was nice to be able to clean a few items up since we had to use extra clothes. Everyone seemed to take the weather in stride and the made sure there was plenty to do. They did a great job of it too. On board we took part in the shopping talk. We did buy the shoppers book but in hindsight unless you are really into jewelry or you really go after the freebies we don't think it's worth the money. We didn't see any of the shows but heard they were great. The parades were so nice. The performers are top rate. The Captain's welcome was a nice way to start formal night. Quest was hilarious!!!!! We LOVED IT. We watched and rooted on our daughter's boyfriend as he tried his hand in the slots tournament. The girls used the spa on several occasions. They loved the massages. There was a variety of excursions to choose from. We can recommend the jeep tour in Aruba (very good!), See & Sea in Curacao, Swimming with the dolphins (our daughter says the best $$$ she spent on the whole trip) and the Ultimate island tour in St. Thomas. On St Maartin we took a cab & went to Maho Beach to swim & watch the planes. Of course we walked around and checked out the shopping. St. Maarten was the place our daughter's boyfriend went out with DH & one of the other guys & bought THE RING. He got a great deal on a beautiful ring. Us girls kept DD busy shopping on the other side of town. St. Maarten is now even more special to us. It was a nice to be the only ship in port. No crowds in the stores and better deals. The disembarkation was as easy as the embarkation. We vacated our room by 8am & waited in the Lyric Theater. Once our number was called we were off the ship in about 5 minutes. In baggage claim we found our luggage quickly & off to the customs line. The officers gave a quick look over our form and we were out. Once we left the building we went to the folks in the orange shirts - Puerto Rico Tourism Bureau - to get a taxi to the airport The ship it's self did show some small signs of age & wear but they were minimal. Some signs of rust and slow opening automatic doors are 2 that we noticed most. This eight year old ship has done hundreds of cruises carrying thousand of passengers and crew and still looks good. Our family loved this ship and her crew. They made our vacation a memorable one. We will sail this ship again. They have We highly recommend the Adventure of the Seas and our travel agent Kathleen of JAB Travel in Goshen, N.Y.