I am finally getting a chance to write a review on our April Easter week 2010 cruise of the Western Caribbean. This was our 2nd trip on this ship but this time, my entire immediate family cruised as we were celebrating my parents' 50th wedding anniversary!
Before I launch into our 2010 cruise, here's a link to my 2009 review where I discussed a lot of the basics already: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=54544 (Note, we sailed from Galveston. DH & I flew into Houston from NY. We had family members & friends from CA, MN & TX going.)
Embarkation/Disembarkation - Combined to be a B-. I'd give embarkation a C, disembarkation an A. Embarkation: We boarded the ship 6 hours late due to a fog delay at the Port of Galveston. It was not Royal Caribbean's fault, the Port was not letting any vessels in. Royal Caribbean gave everyone $20 credit & tried to make everyone as comfy as possible (food/drinks/snacks in the waiting areas). Those who hadn't made it through security (like parts of my family) were in closer queued quarters than those who had). It was not ideal but people tried to make the best of things... after all, we were leaving soon to go on a week long vacation, how irate could you get?? But their organization of the situation was a bit questionable, e.g. they let some of us "pre-register" (taking info manually to be entered into our SeaPass account later), which led to problems for some of us... we ended up having to register our credit cards on board ANYWAY. FYI my sister & her family had an airport transfer as they flew in that day; they said things went very smoothly...on the transfer bus they actually had more updated info on the fog delay than we did at the port. Disembarkation: Quick & sooth.