My family of 4 plus a brother and a cousin took a shuttle to the Cape Liberty Cruiseport in Bayonne, NJ from south Jersey.

Embarkation was a breeze. Even though we arrived at a prime time, everything flowed smoothly and we didn't feel like we had to wait in any line for long. Muster drill was quicker than on Celebrity but afterward my husband and I felt in a true emergency, we wouldn't be as prepared on RCCL. I think the main difference is this. On Celebrity, our muster station first met in a particular lounge and then we followed outside from there. On RCCL, we met outside and looked for the muster drill area number. RCCL also had placed my husband and I in a different station than our kids. We had to politely insist several times to different people that we were a family and in the case of any emergency, we needed to be together. Why they would separate a family--I don't know.

Dinner on the first night was a disaster! We had booked the cruise almost a year in advance and received a main seating dinner which we wanted. When we came down to the dining room at 5:45pm, we were told that my husband and I were on one floor, my cousin and youngest son on another and my brother and older son on another. Worse yet---they didn't see the problem!! They handled it poorly. We were led to one floor after another and made to stand and wait. We felt uncomfortable and embarrassed as people around us were starting to eat. We were hungry and tired. I was recovering from an Achilles tendon tear and my cousin had tripped and fallen on the way to the dining room. When they finally told us they had a table for all of us on the 5th floor, we were relieved. It was short-lived. Another family had our table already. We were then told that they were actually assigned the late seating but tonight they 'felt' like eating early because they were tired! They again tried to convince us to take separate tables! We were again told to stand and wait while they disappeared to figure this out. A sympathetic assistant waitress took pity on us and said if it was her she would sit at that empty table over there. It was an empty table for 6 people and it was now 7pm. We had been shuffled around for well over an hour! We sat down because we figured the people that had that table wouldn't show up so late. The waiter for that table rushed over and told us to get up. I told him no way--we were tired and hungry. He said to make sure we don't touch anything!! Finally the head waiter told him to serve us dinner. It was now 7:25pm. Of course, at this moment, the people who had this table showed up! They made a huge fuss but the head waiter stood firm on our behalf. He was the most helpful head waiter we've seen. He helped serve and clear and treated the other waiters kindly. His name was Ergan, I believe. He actually helped us keep this table for the rest of our cruise. The waiter, Emelito, turned out to be a nice guy who had just been worried he'd get into trouble. We wound up having wonderful meals and some great memories there. My husband and I had a balcony room. Our room didn't seem as clean as on Celebrity. And the bedspreads could use replacing. The shower was tiny. But the bed was unbelievably comfortable. I had the best sleep while on that ship! The room steward, Donny, was such a pleasant guy. I didn't realize they allowed people to smoke in their rooms until our room filled with cigar smoke! I have asthma and my husband can't stand smoke so we called guest services and was told that we should just keep the balcony door shut! The cigar smoker turned out to be a decent guy who stopped smoking on his balcony to accommodate us. I'm sure not everyone would do this so we were lucky. I really wish the cruise lines would have a nonsmoking area of cabins. Smokers can go just about anywhere to have a smoke. But we couldn't go just anywhere to shower, sleep and change! Read more