First off, let me say that I'm a male in my early 30s, and this is my 5th cruise (2nd with Royal Caribbean; the 1st being while I was a little kid), with the 2 most-recent cruises I've been on having been Carnival ships (the Splendor and the Pride). Therefore, my reference point for comparison will be from my experiences with Carnival, and not necessarily a different Royal Caribbean cruise. Also, my review will be fairly comprehensive, so hopefully it will prove very informative (and a good read).

While I had an excellent time and definitely would cruise with Royal Caribbean again (same with Carnival; I never met a cruise I didn't like, but I can see the pros and cons of each one I've taken), there were several noticeable areas where improvements could be made. In actuality, it probably would have been more accurate for me to give the overall cruise rating a 3 out of 5. However, I gave it a 4 out of 5 for one reason, and one reason alone: THE BEST CRUISE DIRECTOR AND ACTIVITIES TEAM I'VE EVER CRUISED WITH. More on that in a bit.

Embarkation: They were short-staffed with the security personnel in Boston, and as such, the line to get into the terminal itself and security checkpoint was ridiculously long (to the point where an elderly passenger in front of me got so tired from standing for so long, that her legs literally buckled from under her, and she had to be helped into a chair that was brought to her). Once through the metal detector though, there were ample employees at the desk to process the actual paperwork and get people onto the ship to start their vacation. Read more