Let me start by saying that I read these boards everyday for about a month before I leave, just to see what I'm in for. My husband and I cruise every year in January and this was our first southern experience. We are both early 30's.

We flew into San Juan 2 days early to soak up some sun as we live in Buffalo NY and don't want the weather to be an issue so we always go a few days early. I actually enjoyed flying in San Juan as I felt I was more on vacation then just going to Florida like we normally do. We stayed at the Marriott Stella's Resort which was absolutely beautiful. If you are staying here you won't be disappointed, we got 2 nights off Priceline for $350.00, we upgraded to an ocean view room for $25.00 more and it was so worth it. The water was so warm and the waves were huge, like being in a big wave pool. It was a lot of fun.

Sunday we headed to the ship around 2 pm. People that normally go out of Florida will see my frustration when I say that this port stinks. Normally you get there and drop off your luggage to the guys, tip them and go through the process of boarding. NOT HERE. You drag your entire luggage through a line before someone checks your fun pass (and its 90 degrees out). Then you continue to drag all your luggage inside a building where the bag handlers are and the first thing the guy says to me before he is about to put my bag through the scanner and into the bin is, " Madam we work on tips here..bla bla bla." I told him he did nothing for me, I dragged my own bags. I watched him put my bags on the carrier and away I went. Other then that the process was pretty easy, I think we were on board within 20 minutes or so. Read more