I took this cruise last December 5th with my husband and another couple that we vacation with. We flew from San Diego to San Juan and arrived the night before. Our flight arrived at about 10:15pm and as we were getting ready to step out of the airport, I had my jacket on bracing for what I assumed would be a cold assault but boy was I wrong! I knew right away that I was on a tropical island as I smilingly peeled off my jacket.

The taxi was a van and the driver charged us $20 for the ride to the Marriott Courtyard Miramar. The hotel is older but nicely kept. I did notice stains on the window curtains but otherwise the room was fine.

The next morning was embarkation day and we wanted to get on the ship as soon as we could so after breakfast at a nearby restaurant (only our husbands ate though), we got a taxi for the terminal. The driver also charged us $20. The Serenade of the Seas has late debarkation for locals till about 10:30am so we caught the traffic from new passengers like us trying to get on the ship and the ones getting off having people picking them up. There was also another ship docked in front of the Serenade with passengers coming. Thus quite a traffic jam. However, because we arrived before noon, the check-in process went quickly and we were on the ship within 15 minutes from when we were dropped off by the taxi. The cabins are avilable at 1pm and our bags arrived about 4pm. Read more