Just got back 7/18/05 from sailing on RCI's big and beautiful Adventure of the Seas. I had read several of the posted reviews of this ship prior to sailing, and I was curious to see if some of the prior criticisms of the ship were warranted. Future passengers of this ship need not be surprised or alarmed by a nearly even mix of English-to-Spanish speaking passengers. After all, the embarkation port is San Juan, P.R. RCI does a wonderful job in balancing the tastes and sensibilities of the passenger base for this ship. I didn't witness any conflict among my fellow shipmates and felt comfortable mingling. There were a total of 5 adults traveling in my party (no kids). We stayed the night prior to departure at San Juan's Caribe Hilton Resort. This resort seemed to be a popular choice among the passengers for this cruise. The resort oddly enough looked fully 5 stars on the outside, but was no better than Ramada or Comfort Inn on the inside (rusting fixtures, outdated styling, peeling paint, etc). If you're seeking accommodations in San Juan prior to your sail date, I would recommend looking elsewhere for an overall better deal.
Port of San Juan/Old Town (embarkation port): Speaking of deals, you probably won't find many here. Go to Old Town San Juan for the history and sightseeing, but wait to make your purchases in the coming ports of call. While there's no tax on your purchases in San Juan, nearly everything I priced from liquor, clothing and jewelry can be had much cheaper in the mainland U.S. Wear a good pair of shoes too, as it's easy to trip over the old cobblestone streets. Oh yeah, sunscreen too!
Embarkation: A normally chaotic process, our party lucked out big time here. When we got to port approx. 2 p.m. local time, we were horrified to see approx. a quarter of the capacity 3,500+ passengers waiting to board in the "mother of all lines." Finding the end of this snaking line, a fellow passenger informed us that there was a much smaller line where we could check our luggage on only. We proceeded to the entrance when a porter told us that we could board immediately as we had already affixed the necessary baggage tags. Cool! The porter disappeared into the crowd before we could tip him, but this token gesture probably wouldn't hurt your chances of bypassing the masses. Total embarkation time < 30 minutes. Yippee! Incidentally, once you complete your pre-boarding, you may want to wander to the small duty-free liquor stall which has excellent prices and unlimited free tasting samples. All in our party picked up a bottle of our favorite spirit for the cruise. The duty-free prices here are nearly as good as any on ship or in port. Caveat: you must place the liquor in your carry on when boarding the ship. Free cookies and refreshments also await you in the embarkation area.