I hesitated to call this a "Western Caribbean" cruise because Hurricanes Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne necessitated three itinerary changes (one in ports of call and two in departure times) that resulted in our avoiding the Western Caribbean altogether. Most of the people I spoke with were actually pleased that we went to San Juan, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas after Labadee instead of the scheduled stops in Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, and Freeport.

My party consisted of myself, two cousins (we're 40-somethings) and their parents (the mothers are sisters), and two paternal aunts of one of my cousins. We had originally all booked Junior Suites, but Royal Caribbean had dropped the price of the Grand Suite dramatically less than two weeks before so I upgraded our stateroom. We went through the VIP embarkation line, so our wait to board was nonexistent. We quickly found our rooms, all on Deck 10, and my cousin and I were quite pleased with our nearly last-minute decision. Finally a cruiseship stateroom with enough room to turn around in no matter where you were. The bathroom was HUGE -- double sinks, marble countertops and floors, and a sizable bathtub/shower. In the main part of the cabin, there was a full-length mirror with two mirrored closets, a large marble countertop/bar area with minibar underneath and multiple drawers for more storage, large television with VCR/DVD player attached to a subwoofer and two tweeters, full-size couch (sofa bed), two chairs, coffee table, end table with cabinet beneath, two twin beds that were actually rectangular rather that rounded at the foot, and a desk with dressing lamps.

The balcony was double-sized with a lounge chair, two other chairs and two tables. Our suite attendant, Cecilia, came to our cabin shortly after we arrived to introduce herself. Simultaneously, the concierge, Drazen, called to introduce himself, so my cousin talked to one while I talked to the other. We missed the afternoon meal because Windjammer closed 30 minutes before the muster station drill which was again a painless procedure. My cousin and I then decided to go up to Deck 11 to watch departure from the Peek-A-Boo bridge area. Read more