We were on the 2-21-10 sailing of the AOS. We are in our late 30's. This was our seventh cruise overall, second out of San Juan, and first on RCCL. Let me start out by saying that a cruise is what you make of it. If you are a pessimistic person in general, then you will find all of the faults with a cruise, and generally have a pretty poor time. If you are optimistic, you will generally find the high points and have a pretty good time. We are realists. We know that there are good, bad, and ugly on every cruise, and have come to expect it. We cruise because we love the variety, and we have a good time because of the people we spend out time with. That being said, on with the review.

We flew into San Juan on Saturday and stayed at the Intercontinental. Yes the drinks and food are expensive. It's a 4 star resort, what do you expect? The pool bar / restaurant is a great atmosphere to hang out before dinner and while waiting for your fellow Cruise Critic members and friends to arrive. The casino was fairly busy at 11pm, but don't know how "loose" it is as we did not play. Had dinner at the Metropol restaurant, just a short walk from the hotel. Food was fantastic.

Embarkation. Smooth as can be. We arrived at the port around 11:30 and were on the ship by 12:15. The line moves very quickly and they seem to be very efficient. Hand your luggage over, move through the metal detector, sign your sail card, and on to the ship. If you get there early, the ship is practically deserted until mid-afternoon. It's a great way to tour the ship without any crowds. Lunch was typical day-1 buffet. Read more