This is our 3rd cruise, 2nd on RCI. My wife and I went for a short 3 day Bahamas cruise 4-5 mos ago and had a blast, so thought we'd try this out for our entire family. There were 7 of us in all, 4 kids (one my son's girlfriend) and my sister. My wife and I were the only ones who ever cruised before. We stayed at South Seas hotel in South Beach the night before the cruise. Ok hotel, would not really recommend it, but loved South Beach. We went to the port at about 11am via taxi and we were on the ship within 45 min. Beautiful ship. The promenade was unbelievable. My kids kept shaking their heads it took one daughter 2 days to finally figure out this was the ship and not another hotel. Very clean. Easy to navigate, although I wish the 3rd deck was not disconnected by the ice rink, b/c we kept having to go up and down to get to the theatre. We had started out w/ 2 adjoining balcony cabins but I was able to get the Royal Family Suite about 1 mo before we sailed. What a treat! It was definitely more money but it was so roomy. It never felt crowded for the 7 of us. 2 bedrooms plus a living room w/ pull out sofa. 2 baths. The master bedroom was roomy and even had a tub in the bathroom. Plus we got concierge perks. Free drinks and appetizers from 5-8 every night, reserved seating for pool chairs and the ice show, plus other things. It will be hard to go back to a regular cabin after that. Worth it if you have a lot in your party! The room attendant Marlo was fantastic. My kids loved the towel animals. The room was spotless. The service was mostly exceptional. Everyone was very friendly. The sports deck staff tended to be younger and not quite as friendly however. The only really negative incident occurred at the first formal dinner. My daughter got sick and we had to leave about 5 min into dinner. My wife and I both went up but I eventually came down. Everyone else was done and the waiter asked if I wanted to bring up our dinners. We were hoping to have them sent up but that seemed not possible. Well, he came out with 2 trays with 6-8 plates on each tray. They had to weight a good 15-20 lbs. My sister and I had to carry them from deck 5-8 thru huge crowds. We passed multiple ship attendants and no one offered to help until we reached our deck and my sister almost dropped the entire tray. SOmeone should have realized how heavy the trays were going to be and offered to send them up. I think it looked tacky even to the other cruisers that we were carrying such loaded up trays. The shows were truly fantastic. The Ice Show is not to be missed. It was something I would have paid money for in the states, it was that good. The production shows were also well done. Richard Spacey was hilarious and so quick witted. The Love and Marriage show is also not to be missed. I was laughing so hard I was crying. The food was truly the negative of the cruise. The main dining room food was actually bad, not even "ok". The filet was almost inedible. The lobster bisque tasted exactly the same as the pumpkin and apple soup. Really! My kids thought both tasted like chicken. The desserts were even bad, and I'll eat anything sweet. Jade actually had the best food on the ship. The sushi was good and their dishes had lots of flavor. Windjammer was ok, mostly mediocre but at least edible. Sorrento's pizza was very good, esp the mexican pizza. The weather could have been better, but obviously not RCI's fault. I don't think I'll cruise the Caribbean in Jan again, though. Ports: Labadee was ok. The zip line was a blast. THe beach, at least on the side we camped out on, was totally rocky. You almost could not even go in the water w/o water shoes. Coco Cay on our last cruise was a MUCH nicer private island, which is pretty much what Labadee is supposed to be. Rest of ports: see below. Days at sea were fun. Plenty to do. If weather was warmer, would have been by the pool entire time. The sexy legs contest and belly flop competition were fun. I tried the Flowrider twice as did my 16 year old son. Was fun but I was not crazy about the falling part. And that was on the boogey board! Got to see some pretty radical wipeouts though. Did not do the climbing wall. Did not have socks (forget them along with underwear!!Luckily able to buy some underwear in FL before we left) and can't climb without them. Disembarkation was a snap. We chose to do the "valet service". For $20 fee per person, you can check your luggage all the way to your destination airport and get your boarding pass the night before you get off the ship. We ate breakfast and walked off ship right to customs line. Took 10 minutes! And all our luggage was waiting in Ohio when we landed. I was skeptical and expected no luggage, but was proved wrong. I felt it was worth the money. Did not have to lug luggage thru customs line or in taxi to Miami airport. All in all a very good cruise. My kids LOVED it and did not want to leave. I kind of liked our shorter cruise on a smaller ship a little better, but that was kidless, so it really was very different. RCI really needs to improve their food, at least on this ship. I still ate like a pig, but I'm a sucker for free food.