First our background. We are a 40(ish) couple who have cruised three times with Celebrity but this was our first with the kids (our 5 year old daughter and our 6 year old son) and our first with Royal Caribbean. We were also traveling with my brother in law and his wife and my mother in law and her best friend.

The cruise- The February 24 Western Caribbean 6 night sailing.

Embarkation- Unlike most of the comments I have read on these boards I did not find the process overly smooth. Maybe we were just lucky with our previous experiences but I can say that we found embarkation considerably easier in Vancouver and Miami. Still, we were at the port at 11:00 and on the ship shortly after noon so I guess we shouldn't complain. Read more