Precruise: We flew down a day ahead, and stayed at the Embassy Suites San Juan. With 4 kids, the included breakfast and cocktail hour were critical. We advance purchased on the internet, a 2 bedroom, 2 bath suite, which provided lots of space for the 6 of us, at a rate of around $300. Seems steep, but we would have needed 2 rooms at a regular hotel, and breakfast for my clan could easily have run $100, so actually, it was a bargain. The hotel has a nice pool, is located several blocks from the beach, and is walking distance to lots of family-oriented restaurants. We walked about 1 mile to go to Metropol, a wonderful Puerto Rican/Cuban restaurant on Isla Verde Avenue. Churassco steak and smoked chicken were 2 standouts. The hotel is very well versed with cruise passengers, and will happily hold your luggage/provide a lockbox if your room is not ready. We were easily sunburned playing in the pool for 45 minutes without sunblock, so take care! Breakfast was crowded; patience was a valuable coping mechanism.

Cruise Day 1: Some general observations: Although we had starboard side rooms, and this was a great advantage departing San Juan (to see the Fort el Morro lit up), for all other ports, portside cabins would have been preferable. We arrived at our rooms around 2 pm. Embarkation was unremarkable. No trouble with the 4 bottles of wine in our luggage. After getting settled a bit, we went to the duty free and purchased 2 cases of soda (I think it was $4 a 6-pack?), and 2 cases of water. Well worth it to avoid summoning a waiter whenever we wanted soda- we could have it anytime. Oh, and the ship's water did not taste all that great, so I was very glad to have bottled spring water in the room. No problem with the 2 extra bottles purchased, either. One was wine (allowed); one was not (rum!), and they let me through x-ray, no problem. The folks that got "pulled over" purchased more than 2 bottles, and their libations were taken, and stored until the end of the cruise - advice? Use moderation, and all will be fine. It took until 9 pm just to get the door unlocked between our connecting rooms. Not our wonderful room steward's fault; it required the key of his supervisor, who had this on a very low priority. It made unpacking very difficult.

Why I like Concierge Class: Different things have value to different people. I would happily pay $100 more per person for CC, for several reasons. First, I love the bathrobes. When I got a spa treatment, and had to use a 'regular' bathrobe, I was depressed. I wanted my big fluffy CC bathrobe instead. Even my kids loved them. Second, I like the upgraded furniture on the deck. Padded seats, big table. More comfortable for those room service breakfasts. I like the shower, the upgraded bathroom products. And, I know this is stupid, but I liked having a gold colored room card. I liked the canapEs - not all of them, but I just plucked off whatever was in the toothpick, leaving the bread behind, and that was fine. Since we had early seating, 2- 3 bites of something was about all I could handle while swigging my pre-dinner cocktail! I did like the canvas bags - with 3 rooms, we received 3, which came in handy when we tried to pack our belongings at the end of the cruise. I left the leather notepaper holders - dunno when I would ever use them again, but they were fine. I liked the bigger golf umbrellas in the rooms - came in handy in Tobago, where it rained all day. I did not notice that the room was significantly bigger; in fact, I found the bed situation annoying. Very little room between the foot of the bed, and the wall, and my husband/ kids would constantly come to an impasse, trying to get by that bed to the balcony or the bathroom. Would have liked a wider room, less deep, perhaps. Read more