OK...First time cruisers, Listen Up!!

We are a large family of 7. My wife is employed by the Airlines and we live in Hawaii. We are very much a paycheck to paycheck type of family. We traveled as a family of 5. Two older kids couldn't afford to miss college. So, Mom and Dad and 16 yr. old girl, 11 year old boy and 6 yr. old girl packed up and headed for Los Angeles. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza in San Pedro. Its literally walking distance to the pier where you meet the ship, so its VERY convenient. We used "Zippy" shuttle for all of our ground transportation. EXCELLENT. The CP offered a shuttle to the ship on Sunday. We left the hotel at 10:30am and were on the ship by noon. The process of checking in and clearing customs etc. was simple. The initial entry onto the ship is overwhelming. The ship seems soo big. The staff was very friendly and point you in the right direction. We signed up for the soft drink program for the kids and then headed to lunch. Ate at our own pace and decided to visit our room. Probably no later than about 1pm and our room was ready to go. We had a family suite. We loved it. It offers 2 twin beds together as a queen, a set of bunk beds in a separate area and a fold out sofa in the living room area. So, it sleeps 5 perfectly.This was least expensive way per RCCL for us to travel as a family of 5. It was great. Be ready to be overwhelmed with things to do. We received the schedule of activities daily and you cant believe how much stuff is going on. That was our problem. We figured that since we paid for it we might as well get our monies worth. So, the first day we tried to do everything. After, missing a couple of activities, getting lost on ship, and generally frustrated we decided to just slow down and go with the flow. That was the best thing we did. Select a couple of things you might like to try or watch and really enjoy them. You will never be able to do everything. We did use the Ocean Adventures program for our 6 year old. She loved it. Well run, organized, safe, etc. Great. They offer it for selected age groups depending on who is booked on the cruise. Regretfully, not a lot of 11 year old boys. So... our son did sneak into the 12-16 year old activities and they do have a full arcade which he loved. Also, ping-pong tables by the main pool on deck 9 were fun because he could play with any age. One day I found him getting beat in ping-pong by a man who had to be 70 yrs old. Thats the fun of it, all ages mix on a cruise. Our 16 yr old daughter liked the freedom the ship offered. She could roam around and make her own decisions. Have a soda, have an icecream, go to the gym, use the internet, watch a movie, whatever...She was safe and had the means to eat and drink so she was very pleased with the cruise My wife loved the casino. In Hawaii we do not have legalized gambling so a casino is a rare find for us. Either travel to Asia or fly to Las Vegas. Coincidentally our cabin was located immediately below the Casino. My wife really enjoyed it and made alot of friends. I am sure she went every night but she won some and lost some. We had late seating for dinner. I would recommend it but, our 6 yr old did fall asleep at dinner twice. We loved getting dressed up. Formal nights are very cool. Pictures, flowers, great meals. Just like going to the prom. The staff that was assigned to us were very cool and we had so much fun interacting with them. My wife speaks multi-languages so she could speak some of the staffs native language. I think that was fun for the crew. The last comment is a little negative. It seems cruising is 50% the ship experience and 50% the destination. We are lucky to be from Hawaii. We traveled to Mexico. Visiting beaches and sun probably wasn't our best choice. We live that daily. If you come from cold weather or an inland state the Mexican Riviera would would be great. We are already looking into an Alaska Cruise with RCCL next summer.

We made lots of friends and would recommend it to everyone.