Let me start by saying, I had a wonderful time on this awesome ship. I have traveled on other cruise lines, but this was my first time on Royal Caribbean. I traveled with my husband, my mother, and my mother's husband. We are all between the ages of 30 and 60. This was my mother's husband first cruise and let me say he was overwhelmed and excited.

First of all we flew into Fort Lauderdale from Maryland on the day of the ship's departure. We didn't feel a need to fly in the day before since we had such an early flight and no weather delays foreseen. We took a taxi from the airport that cost $15 for the total trip. It was cheaper than Royal Caribbean's transfer fee of $15 per person using their van service. One regular taxi was able to fit four people inside the cab and 7 pieces of luggage in the trunk. My husband was frustrated because he felt the line for the taxi was unorganized and he is a stickler for things running smooth.

The taxi dropped us off in front of the pier. Just looking at the massive size of the ship made our jaws drop. I couldn't believe how huge she was. What a first impression? From curb to ship would have taken 15 minutes however, we had a major catastrophe take place with my mother's traveling documents. Royal Caribbean would not let her board the ship with her birth certificate and driver's license which has her married name on it. Royal Caribbean said that as of November 2009 a marriage certificate or divorce decree must accompany this documentation. This was new to us because she traveled last year on another cruise line along with several others that was allowed to board with just those two pieces of documentation. Now it makes since to want to prove the link between the two names it's just that the transparency of this requirement is non-existent. They showed me on their website where it states this information, however it was way at the bottom and not included in the section regarding travel documentation. There should be an additional link that takes you to the paragraph concerning this matter. It was very confusing and the information they needed was almost impossible to get. Again to Royal Caribbeans credit they allowed my brother to fax them this information so that my mother could board the ship. We had been trying to reach my brother for 2 hours and Royal Caribbean had begun to pull her luggage off the ship and then he called 30 minutes before the gate was about to close and sent the information they needed. So to be on the safe side get a passport to avoid this hassle. At last we were on the ship, but I have to say our mood was a little dampened by the earlier fiasco. You enter in the Royal Promenade. It's like being in a mall. You don't realize you are on a ship. The Royal Promenade houses Sorrentos the pizza shop and Cafe Promenade the pastry and espresso shop which are complimentary food services. It also has Boleros,the Latin club; On Air, the karaoke spot, Schooner's Bar, Globe& Atlas Bar, In Focus, the photo shop, and a few other novelty stores. The Boardwalk area was fun and carefree. Lot's of music playing and kids activities. Not sure how comfortable it would be sleeping in the balcony stateroom overlooking this area with all the noise. This area had Johnny Rockets which has excellent burgers and milkshakes for a $4.95 cover charge. It also has the Seafood Shack which my family was disappointed in the fact they really didn't have seafood other than some fried choices. They felt they should have more seafood selections because most get the impression you can get all sorts of seafood from here which is not true. I enjoyed the barbecue ribs from here though. The Central Park area was quite and serene. At night it was romantically lit up with white lights. A cool area to walk through at night. We ate at Chops Grille and Giovanni's table which are located in Central Park. There is a $25 cover charge for Chops and a $15 cover charge for Giovanni's. The lamp chops at Chops Grille were excellent. Giovanni's has great veal chops and herb crusted garlic shrimp. Central Park also has the Park Cafe which is complimentary and stayed crowded. They have a lot of healthy choices and salads you can make yourself. They also have great roast beef sandwiches. Read more