Overview: DH and I are in our late twenties, we've both cruise Carnival and Norwegian. This was our first Royal Caribbean. We *love* cruising, are happy go lucky and adventurous. This cruise was part of our honeymoon vacation and perfect for us!

Pre-Cruise: We departed Newark, NJ on Continental Friday before the cruise. Flight was smooth and uneventful, just how we like it! Arrived in San Juan on time, and hopped a cab to the Marriott Stellaris Resort and Casino. I must say their cab system is outstanding, and NYC and Boston should really consider a similar idea! 20 min cab ride and we arrived in the Condado area to our gorgeous hotel. The Marriott is a great place to stay pre-cruise, but expensive. We booked on priceline and were 100% happy with the price we paid. Not sure if I would have been as excited if I paid the going rate of $450! Hotel was very nice, clean, staff was friendly. We checked in very quickly and were served an ice cold tropical drink while waiting to check in which was exactly what I needed. Our room was on the 6th floor, just near the corner so we had a partial ocean view and city view. Great! The room was clean and fresh, very bright and airy. The bathroom was FANTASTIC. Ginormous to be exact. The shower was great, I love Marriott showers. Bed was amazing as always. Pools looked nice, a lot smaller then they look on the website, but nice. Overall the hotel was great, can't complain! 1st night: We showered and walked down the street to the right of the hotel. We ate at an authentic Mexican and Puerto Rican place with an ocean view, Casa de Don Juan I THINK was the name. Food was great garlic shrimp with fried plantains and rice, and garlic marinated mahi-mahi with rice, margaritas were yummy, a bit salty, but STRONG. Made for a fun walk back to the hotel! Tres Leches dessert was OUTSTANDING. It was an early night as our bellies were full, the margaritas had hit, and we were weary from a day of travel. Day 2: We had room service for breakfast, convenient, but expensive, and a bit boring. Hopped in a cab for $15 to Old San Juan. We were dropped off at the San Cristobal fort to start our day on suggestion of our driver. We toured the fort which was great history and gorgeous views then decided to walk to El Morro. We stopped at a bistro called Amapola on the way. Great food, I highly recommend! We had excellent tapas of some kind of pulled chicken on fried plantains, salads with fresh pineapple, papaya and mild white cheese. Delish! Dessert we unfortunately decided to split a fresh coconut flan... we were fighting over the last piece! Amazing! El Moro was a fantastic sight as well and interesting. We were a little tired at this point of forts however. From El Moro we walked into the heart of Old San Juan for some shopping. We hit Barrachina's for pina coladas, and each had one despite our strong urge to drink our weight worth. Well worth the stop. Hopped a cab back once we hit the piers were Carnival docks. We ate took a left out of the hotel this night for dinner and checked out Yerba Buena. We need to find out how to get them to open one in Boston. Excellent food, and drink. We started with crab pastry purses, YUM, on to stuffed pork tenderloin with rum brown sugar sauce... I am salivating thinking about it, and red snapper which was also incredible. Finished of with QUATRO leches, which I could have eaten till the cows came home. Great food, great atmosphere with alfresco dining. Can't wait to go back! Day 3: Embarkation day! Slept in a bit, skipped breakfast and checked out. Super easy. Hopped a cab for $12 to the Pan Am Pier.

Embarkation: One of our finer cruise moments happened here! We arrived around 11:30 to LONG lines to get through security to check in. There was no line for the porters to drop off luggage. We knew once inside we had priority check in for the suite, but it was hot and humid outside. We went to the porter, with full intentions to tip, however we forgot to break some bills at the hotel and the smallest we had was a $10. Let me tell you that was by FAR the best $10 I ever spent! The porter took one look at our 3 bags, us the $10 and walked us right up to the front of the line for security. All in all we were inside, checked in, and on the ship in less than FIVE minutes! No line for priority check in, got our Seapasses and walked straight onto the ship and off to the Windjammer since our stomachs were showing their distaste for the lack of breakfast. Lunch was good for buffet food. Average cruise fare. After that we explored a little and were in our state rooms by 10 after 1 to unpack. Finally! VACATION! Read more