Day 1: Arrival San Juan We had a direct flight in, which was uneventful, and easily spotted the Royal Caribbean stand next to the baggage claim for transfer processing.(We purchased transfers). This went smoothly, but we did have to wait about 30 mins. before we were loaded onto the bus. It was a short ride to the terminal, and processing was very quick. We had our SetSail passes ready and boarded the ship about 15mins after arriving at the terminal. We boarded at about 3pm so lunch at the Windjammer was our first stop. We toured the ship for a bit, and stopped for a round of mini golf. It was a short course but the novelty of playing on the ship was fun. I did notice the smell that has been mentioned in the hallway of the third floor where we were staying. It was unfortunately a bit of "eau de toilette". However, it was not in the room. NOTE: the ship was having problems with the vacuum system for the toilets, culminating in a breakdown midway through the cruise for a few hours of the toilet. After that was fixed, the odor improved. I did notice the odor in port on the pool deck on day 3 which dissipated after the ship got under way. Our bags arrived at about 6pm,in time for a clothes change for dinner. We were second seating at 8:30pm, and met our wonderful waiter Melroy and assistant waiter Daneesh. Dinner finished about 10:30pm , so we decided to call it a night, as we were tired from the day's traveling. Our party consisted of myself, my 2 children 10 and 13, and my parents. The kids and parents were ready for bed!

Day 2 St. Thomas The parents went off to shop, and the kids and I took a taxi to Coral World/Coki Beach. We had a great time at Coral World, feeding the lorikeets(closely resemble parrots), feeding the stingrays, petting a shark, and watching a sea lion show. They also have some great aquariums to view, and we really enjoyed this stop. Well worth it especially if you have children along. (Admission was $19/adults and I believe about $14ea for the kids)We decided we wanted to see Megan's Bay, so we taxied to the beach. Admission was $4.00pp over 12. They did have lockers for rent fairly cheaply. The beach and water were beautiful, and we relaxed there for several hours. Finally, we taxied back to the ship and shopped for about an hour at the dock village before boarding at 4:45pm. Once back at the ship, the kids wanted to go to the pool for a bit. We first grabbed a bite to eat at the Seaview cafe to hold us over to dinnertime. The food at the Seaview was fantastic. Great Reuben sandwiches! I relaxed with a drink poolside, and enjoyed the ship's live Caribbean band while the kids swam for a bit. This became our routine for the week after returning from port. Dinner and a show usually rounded out our evenings for the week. Showtimes varied between 7pm and 10:30 for 2nd seating guests, with the majority being pre-dinner shows.

Day 3 St Martin We decided to taxi to the French side to spend a while at Orient Beach. We shared a van with another family who had children, and our driver recommended the more conservative northern end(because of the kids). There were a few topless women, but not the type you would want to see in most cases...lol The beach was nice, but there was a lot of seaweed floating in the water, and on the beach. Beware, food was very expensive where we were, 11Euros for a burger and fries(about $14US at that time). A nice day, but not my favorite beach of the trip. A taxi ride back to the ship, and we were back on about 4:30pm. Read more