This was our third cruise. The first was Carnival on the 6 mo. old Miracle and all first cruises are great. Thinking back however, Carnival is great if you like a bunch of 30-50 year olds reliving their frat/sorority days and interior design best described as, "Didn't anybody tell them these colors don't go together?" Our second cruise was on Celebrity. If you've never cruised Celebrity before you don't understand the idea of service. The RCI Serenade of the Seas is a beautiful ship, with amazing architecture, classy interior design, and all the bells and whistles you could hope for.

EMBARKATION: We arrived in San Juan at 10:00 am and rented a car from Hertz (with GPS) because they were the only company that had a drop off site just across from the Pan American Pier at Million Air. We visited the forts at Cristobal and El Morro ($3.00 each or $5.00 for both, run by the National Park Service) and it was worth the experience. We got to the ship about 4:00 pm. and were able to walk right up to the counter. Before we even went to our room, we went to see the Maitre d' about getting our party of 12 all at one table. He was useless, but when we arrived at dinner the first night our head waiter, Frances, was already rearranging things for us. Cruise Critic questions tipping the head waiter, but Frances was worth every bit and more throughout the whole week.

We had balcony staterooms on deck 7 forward. I think these are the only ones with extra deep balconies. The room was nicely decorated and adequate space-wise. The shower is quite small. There was soap and shampoo only in the bathroom, but our attendant was good, and they supplied fresh beach towels each day for taking off the ship. Read more