This was our first cruise with RCCL. We are traveling as a family of four with 2 children ages 10 and 7. Flew from Memphis to San Juan the day BEFORE the cruise departed...not only did this save us a ton of money, but due to delays in Memphis, we did not arrive in San Juan until after dinner which would have been upsetting on day of embarkation. (San Juan airline tickets were quite a bit higher on Sundays...they KNOW when that cruise is sailing in and out!) Upon arrival in San Juan, we took a taxi to Marriott Isla Verde...super nice grounds for about $130.00 a night (beach "view"). The pool is great with adult and kiddie areas and hottubs. Great palm trees on the beach and hammocks! Chairs for rent for $7 a day and bar service everywhere...not bothersome, just raise your flag on the back of your chair when you need something. Several restaurants including sandwich/ice cream/coffee bar, Salsa restaurant with dancing, and outdoor restaurant under the beachside veranda. Quite expensive but pretty good food. (poolside grill has same food as inside sandwich shop for about $3 more per person). Great porters with around the clock service. Sunday, we took advantage of 12:00 check out and had a quick lunch and took advantage of the 2 complimentary rum drinks provided by Marriott before the taxi ride to the ship. (roughly 24.00 for 4 and 5 bags) Upon arrival to the San Juan port, we had a dauntingly long line, but it moved surprisingly quickly. Print out your check-in document as directed on the RCCL site for easy check-in. Luggage tags with room # are issued outside when bags are checked, and then on to security...have your passport/birth certificates ready. Check-in took just a few minutes then you were issued your Seapass and were able to board! Luggage arrived by about 3PM in plenty of time for dinner.

Now, we went cheap and got the interior stateroom on deck 7 thinking that we would not be in the room much since we had only one day at sea....that's before hurricane Omar. The room is very small, but was very clean and as long as you remain somewhat organized, works just fine. Not a lot of drawer space, just a vanity type desk that would hold shorts and folded t-shirts, but wouldn't hold pants. There are however plenty of hangers and several shelves in the closet for storage. The only problem I had was finding a place for our dirty clothes...ended up just piling them in the bottom of the closet! We had 2 bunks that were let down nightly for the kids and stowed away every morning. Bathrooms are small, but fine. I actually like the shower, but can see where larger folks could have issues with size. TV in the cabin was good with several movies playing daily. The only complaint I had with TV was no Weather Channel...which we ended up needing!!!

Saw several shows and they were good. The ice show is really good and impressive considering the size of the rink is about half what there used to. As far as the kids "Adventure Ocean", I cannot really say much about it, but it looked pretty fun. My kids wouldn't leave my side, so they never went in without us. My husband did take my son in for some arcade games (which were about 0.75 cents each). First day was "Day at Sea" which allows everyone time to get oriented on the layout of the ship. It was very overcast, so not a lot of pool time for me. DH climbed the rock wall twice with very little waiting while the kids played on the basketball court below. Played the put=put golf which was good considering the limited amount of space they have to use. Due to the rain, could not in-line skate, but this was a little overrated...very small course mostly suitable for kids. Several covered ping pong tables which was good for rainy days. Rainy days were a little tough to deal with because my kids wanted to be outdoors and not much to do in the rain. Indoor ice rink is small (about a half court b=ball), but you have to have long pants to skate. On days at sea, there is a screening room with new releases playing. Consult daily "Compass" newsletter for showtimes. Grande Promenade was cool and shopping pretty good. I am a runner, so my plan was to run on the upper deck track in the mornings...due to strong winds and rain, this did not happen most days. The Shipshape spa had several treadmills and I only had to wait on the first day at sea. A little difficult to keep balance on the treadmills in rough seas, but i managed just fine. The view is great,and most days this was my first glimpse of the weather for the day. Watched many storms come and go during my morning runs. My only complaint with this gym was it was too warm. Most gyms I'm used to are freezing until you work up a sweat...not a problem here...I definitely need a towel to mop my brow! After my exercise, down to the promenade to grab a coffee and back to the room to wake up the family for breakfast. We had all breakfasts and lunches in the Windjammer and only had enough clothes for dinner a few nights...very regrettable. will definitely pack more dining room attire next time. Read more