Let me start by giving a little background on our group. First of all this was a trip to celebrate my in-laws 50th anniversary. Included in the group were: me, a cruising addict since I was 10, since I am in my mid-thirties now, a lot of cruises; my husband, a reluctant cruiser, I make him go anyway; my in-laws who are in their mid-70s, veteran cruisers and my brother-in-law and his wife, first-time cruisers. My husband's family have traditionally done sailboat vacations for family trips, but I convinced everyone that we should do a cruise instead. None of us had done a Voyager-class ship and my MIL really wanted to go to Belize, so it was decided that we would do the Explorer of the Seas Western Caribbean. We chose the end of April for the weather and the smaller amounts of kids.

PRE-CRUISE:

Since the in-laws paid for the cruise, we were able to splurge and fly first class from Sacramento to Miami. We flew Continental Airlines, a red-eye flight with one airplane change and arrived in Miami on time at about 11:30am the day before the cruise. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Coral Gables booked through Priceline for less than $80. The hotel was fine, except that the rest of the family was in Miami Beach, so meeting up with them was a challenge, as is driving in Miami. Good Lord, what a mess! After checking in and resting a bit, we met up with the rest of the family at their hotel in Miami Beach. After a few pre-dinner cocktails, a limo provided by the South Beach restaurant we had reservations for arrived. Now this sounds like a great idea, eat at our restaurant and we'll provide the transportation. They don't tell you they are picking up people in every other hotel in the area as well. Can you say sardines? Dinner in South Beach was good but expensive of course. Read more