This was a dream vacation for me and my twelve year old son for his Spring Break. I travel quite a bit, but this was his first time on a cruise, my 2nd, and it was absolutely the best vacation the two of us have had together ever!

I'm not sure where to start, so I'll start from the moment we walked on board. I loved the view when you first walk onto the ship. You can see the beautiful atrium, sunlight, marble, very classy and reflects the excitement of the adventure we're about to take on. The staff was friendly and helpful from the very beginning. They suggested I disable my son's card so that he couldn't make purchases without me and give me any surprise bills at the end of our trip. We headed to our cabin, which was clean and had plenty of storage for our things. The only complaint I had of the entire trip was the smell....wasn't pretty. We had an inside stateroom with two twins, a small tv (great movies for late night) and a bath...That was pretty much all we needed since we spent very little time in our room. If you're a stickler for luxury in your room, you'd probably want to upgrade, but if you prefer to spend your money (and time) elsewhere, the rooms are more than adequate. We went to the top of the ship to relax in the pool, explore a little bit, grab a bit to eat and get into vacation mode. We went up to Fanta-Seas, where my son would spend the majority of his time when on the ship, and he made friends immediately. I found the rock climbing wall, which is where I spent the majority of my time when on the ship. I loved that we could purchase a soda package and water package for the duration of the trip. Both were affordable and convenient. Plus, there was always a drink special of the day that was very affordable. I'm not a big drinker, especially since I was traveling alone with my son, but the wine selection was very nice and it's always nice to have a pina colada available while sitting by the pool. While the main swimming pool was a little busy and loud for my taste, the solarium was a little piece of heaven on earth. Quiet, calm, a lounge chair was always available, plenty of space in the jacuzzis, and the cafe had some healthy snacks. The spa and fitness room were nice to have on board, and i went to a couple of the seminars. They were obvious sales pitches, but informative nonetheless. We had the late seating for dinner, 8:30pm, which was a little late for us to eat. They did offer free seating, which put you on a list to be seated earlier if a table became available. The late seating was great on off shore days, so you didn't have to worry about getting back to the ship and hurrying to get to dinner. We had the best table mates, who also had a son my son's age. They were each other's wingmen for the duration of the cruise. My son had the best time in Fanta-Seas, meeting kids his age, playing the arcade games, and participating in the organized events for his age group. He actually partied it up more than I did, as they had a social each night for the teens. This was the perfect mix for "mommy time" alone by the pool or on the rock climbing wall, and together time on the rock climbing wall, playing table tennis, sharing a meal and, of course off shore excursions. Speaking of, for our excursions, we chose to do the Snorkeling/Catamaran tour in Costa Maya thru the ship, which was reasonably priced. The guides were terrific, friendly and informative. My son had never snorkeled before and they were great with helping him get used to the equipment. Before too long, he was a fish in the sea. Our excursion in Belize was booked thru Major Tom's, on a recommendation of a friend who'd been on one of his tours. Our guide, Mark, was terrific, and truly this was one of the our memorable experiences ever. We did the zipline/cave-tubing tour. Unfortunately, the tour was not timed very well, and our bus, with approximately 50 people from RC ship and Carnival, were over an hour late getting back to the tender, which was supposed to leave at 3:30pm. Luckily, there were two other buses that were ship sponsored excursions that were late as well, otherwise I might be typing this as a new citizen of Belize. The food was pretty good. There were plenty of healthy choices to be made...when we made them. Our server and assistant server were wonderful and made our mealtimes that much more enjoyable. Everything was timed well, so we were able to fully enjoy each course and dining experience. The entertainment on board was top-notch. I especially enjoyed the comedians. I'd seen one of the comedians in person in Atlanta and remember seeing the one comedian on Star Search years before, so that was pretty fun. I liked that there were plenty of opportunities for us trivia nerds to get together to play, as well as Bingo, and I had a hoot watching the game shows. As a person traveling on my own (since my son pretty much abandoned me while on board hahaha), it was nice to be able to have a little adult entertainment that didn't make me feel out of place being single. All in all, this was a perfect spring break adventure for a single mom and son. I have a four year old as well, who stayed home with his dad. Not sure if it would've been the same experience with a younger child. We look forward to making it an annual event for just the two of us and would absolutely do it again on Royal Caribbean. Next year-Jamaica!