Excellent ship. The food was much better than I expected. I have been to many conferences and seminars at luxury hotels where they were catering to big crowds and not one of them can touch the quality and service offered at the Solstice main dining room (Grand Epernay). The buffet is fine too. My only gripe is with the main restaurant hours. Breakfast is until 9am (which during my vacations is the time I get up!) and lunch ends at 1:30pm, too early for my vacation late habits. I strongly recommend to use the Grand Epernay as it is by far the best place to eat in the boat. I did not experience any of the gourmet sites with the exception of Bistro on Five for crepes and although the crepes were fine the service was slow. Room service was excellent too. One day we repeated the breakfast order because we were not sure we had filled up the order and we received a double order !!! I wonder who coordinates that..., no complaint there! Ninfa, our male Indian attendant and his assistant were absolutely great all the time. They visit the room twice a day (if not more) and fix anything that you may have "messed up"... If you take three showers a day, they will replace the towels that many times, great! Desserts were not up to par with the exception of the sugar free ones which are way better than average. The main theater is excellent as many of the other sites, but I cannot make a comparison as this was my very first cruise. Confirming what other critics have recommended the blow glass show is by far one of the most interesting activities in the ship. Try to go as many times as possible and you may even win one of the pieces they make in the random raffles they have. As far as ports of call, I have been to San Juan many, many times visiting friends and on business so it was not an important port of call for us.I just called my best friend, he picked us up at the dock and we spent the afternoon with him and his family. On the other hand, San Juan is a great port as the Old San Juan and El Morro are definitely worth visiting. A private tour of Condado and Isla Verde are also worth a try. Cannot give opinions on any of the other shore excursions offered of which the visit to a rum factory is the only one that called my attention. St. Kitts: Is a nice underdeveloped island. Just took a taxi after all the other tours were gone and for the fixed price (posted) of $60 the three of us (wife, mother in law and me) enjoyed a 90 minute tour of a portion of the island visiting the Romney Manor (http://www.caribellebatikstkitts.com/), the capital, Frigate Bay and Timothy Hill (http://gocaribbean.about.com/od/stkittsandnevis/tp/StKittsAttract.htm) from where you can see the southern part of the island and the two ocean/sea views: Atlantic and Caribbean. I found that souvenirs were priced better in St Kitts than in St Maarten (your typical T and polo shirts) and my mother in law bought a very well priced hand bag. St Maarten: I don't think St. Maarten has a bad beach. Definitely do the shopping and "excursioning" in San Juan and St Kitts and reserve your beach day for St Maarten. Great water, great beaches. As far as shopping is concerned, if you are a watch and jewelry buyer, St Maarten is a huge jewelry mall... We found perfume prices were better in the boat that in St Maarten by at least 10% if not more. All I bought in St Maarten was two bottles of Guavaberry liquor and rum and dutch cheese that I am still enjoying (and which I bought at a local supermarket) I found the pools to be perfectly adequate, two outside pools and one inside pool (the solarium). Being from South Florida I did not find the temperature to be hot enough for me to enjoy the outside pool so I stayed mainly on the inside pool so I cannot comment on the availability of chaise-lounges, space, etc. All in all an excellent first time cruise. Now I know for sure I like cruising and we are already planning our next trip. We also know now that if the next experience is not good, there is an alternative!