I am a single mom that traveled alone with my two children, ages 6 and 10. I am a unique traveler, so this review may or may not be helpful to everyone. I do not cruise for the food or shows. I cruise for the experience of being on a ship, the ports of call and just fun. Keep that in mind when you read this review. We also go to bed relatively early. My kids rely on their sleep, so I made sure they were in bed by 10:30-11 each night.
Friday, March 13th and Saturday, March 14th
We flew in from Columbus Ohio. Stayed at the Renaissance hotel right by the cruise port. Nice. Clean. It was expensive (in my opinion) but I used Amex points. If I hadn’t had the points, I wouldn’t have spent that much. I used the Walgreens across the street for some forgotten items. We ordered breakfast room service. Food was good, not too expensive. I called the front desk and requested a cab for 11 am (checkout time). We walked out and the cab was waiting. Took a short ride over ($7). Immediately checked our luggage at the curb and into the terminal we went. We went through check in, security and customs all within 20 minutes. This is something that Royal Caribbean has down to a science. Amazing efficiency. Had our picture taken and straight on boat we went. We walked around a little bit, amazed by the size of the ship. We had lunch at the Windjammer (more about the windjammer below) and into our room by 1 pm. Our luggage was waiting. The kids got into their bathing suits and we were at the pool by 2. Not too busy. They played around until dinner time, got a drink package (more on that later) and snacked on pizza. Dinner in the windjammer again and we registered for the kids club. We explored the ship and then headed to bed.
Cabins are small but never once did I feel it was too small for us. (3 of us), cabin 8666. The kids slept on the pull out couch and every day our cabin steward pulled it out at night and put it back in the morning. The showers are small. I have no issue with them, but I am 5’1 and about 120 lbs. My 6’4 boyfriend would have a tough time. Storage was unique, but if used right, I had plenty of space for clothing and toiletries. The location of our cabin was perfect for us. Aft and right outside the doors to Central Park. You could go down a few flights to the board walk and one more to the Promenade. I never heard any noise in our room and I certainly couldn’t hear the park or anything else. It was quiet and peaceful.