We flew in to San Juan on a us air non-stop flight out of Charlotte, NC the day prior to our cruise. We picked the Marriott Isla Verde based on the reviews from trip advisor. It turned out to be a fascinating pre-cruise experience. The hotel staff was excellent, this place has everything you need: a beautiful and wide beach, nice sand that doesn't stick to your feet, hammocks, a beautiful swimming pool, swim up bar, jacuzzi, lounge beach chairs by the pool and on the beach, umbrellas, and plenty of shaded areas since there is a landscaped garden all around the pool. There's a casino where we won for a change, a nightclub, a bar, a restaurant where they served all you can eat Puerto Rican food which by the way, it was totally worth the $20 per person. This place features one restaurant outside by the beach area as well. Between the live salsa on weekends, the food, and the beach, we can affirm that there's a little bit of everything for everyone there if you don't mind staying ten minutes away from old San Juan and the cruise ship terminal. Embarkation: It was a piece of cake. We got off the shuttle, handed the bags to one of the porters and "poof" they were gone. We proceeded to check in, spent very little time there, and then on to the liquor store upstairs. It was crazy and I felt right at home; People were doing sample shots in the middle of the isle, everybody seemed to be with uplifted spirits... I ended up bringing on board 6 bottles of liquor! Yes I did show them at the x-rays and nobody said a word, it was OK!! One of the perks of sailing out of SAN JUAN in the Carnival terminal I guess. After that we did what everybody else does when they first come on board, eat at the windjammer. Then we checked the dinning room reservation, our cabin, we had a balcony right about the center of the ship, it was pretty standard, with plenty of space, storage, and a very comfortable bed. Muster drill was a mustard! and the sail away party was alright, with all the classic songs, electric slide, electric this, electric that... Note: I'm not going to get into detail of my likes and dis-likes about the food and entertainment/shows simply because I've learned on my own cruising experience that these items are so subjective. My advice is: Do as much as you can on and off the ship. time goes by really quickly in your vacation so go ahead and try new foods, drinks, places, and meet people too. You can always go back to the safe zone when you go back home.

Food: Let's put it this way. It was 10 x better than what the average Americans eat everyday. Be honest. How much would you spend at a local restaurant if you order a four course meal with lobster tail, or prime rib, or Angus steak? I read lots of reviews where people criticize the food while at home, their refrigerators are empty with nothing but sodas, and condiments... No offense if you don't cook, or don't have the time, but my point is that the quality of the food, and service are superb in my opinion considered the amount of guests they feed AROUND THE CLOCK, and the price of the whole experience. We ate at every venue, in different times, an overall all restaurants have great choices. Entertainment: There was a lot going on every night; shows, karaoke, bars, shopping, nightclubs, at the midway point of our cruise we found ourselves with the dilemma of getting some precious 5 hours of sleep at night, or trying to stay with the daily programs around the clock. We decided to sleep some more since our main focus was to hit hard each island.