This was our 4th cruise with RCCL, but our first cruise to the Southern Caribbean. Our ports of call were San Juan, Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas. We loved the itinerary. Our only complaint was that the last two days were port days. (We prefer a sea day at the end to unwind and relax before going home.)

We flew into San Juan from JFK in NYC a day ahead and stayed at the Howard Johnson Carolina on Isla Verda Ave. We paid $155 w/an AARP discount...which was a steal from what we could tell! Most rooms in San Juan start at $200 a night. The hotel was a bit older, but clean and in a convenient location. We loved flying in a day ahead, as this allowed us to arrive at the ship well rested at noon the next day. We had filled out our set sail passes online and breezed through check in. We were in our cabin within 20 minutes of getting out of our taxi. (A word to the wise...ask your cab driver what the fare is BEFORE you get in the cab! We were told at our hotel that it should run around $10 to get to the pier. When we were dropped off, the driver asked for $22.00. We found out at the port that we had been ripped off...it should have been $10!) We dropped our carry on luggage in our stateroom (which was not quiet ready since we arrived so early) and had lunch in the windjammer. Then we took off for Old San Juan and spent the afternoon shopping and visiting The El Morro Fort, which was beautiful!

Our first day was a sea day. We were told that the ship had room for an additional 300 or so passengers, which probably explained why we never had to wait for anything all week and why we always found a lounge chair at the pool without any problem. The week before was a college spring break week and we heard it was very full. We found the ship to be extremely clean...much more so than our last cruise on the Mariner (although it could just be because the ship was less crowded.) The crew was VERY friendly and the atmosphere was much more relaxed, and children better behaved than previous cruises. The food was okay, but nothing to write home about. Our dining room waiter (Dalton) was very distracted all week. He was nice enough, but not a very good waiter, in spite of the fact that he told us he has been working for RC for 12 years! I think he was overdue for a vacation! All the other servers we encountered were wonderful, as was the rest of the crew. Many went above and beyond the call of duty! Read more