Picked this cruise by port of call (daughter recommended Cozumel for the Mantees) and also a great deal (Rhapsody of the Seas, out of Tampa). This was our first cruise, celebrating our 30th anniversary, so my wife did a lot of research on the vessel and what people said about it and the destinations.

At first the reviews made us skeptical whether we had picked the right cruise but in the end we had a WONDERFUL time as everything went smoothly, our only complaint was the weather and of course that is beyond their control (70s and windy on some days).

The embarkation went quickly as we were ushered to the first-class check-in since they were not busy. Since we only booked a month out we did not have passports BUT that was not a problem. The disembarkation was well organized and we used the cruise services for handling the luggage. We choose our time frame to leave and was assigned a certain location to wait and a time to leave. We were notified actually a little bit early at our waiting location on being able to leave and found our luggage waiting for us to pick up. The wait to clear customs was quick. Our in-laws also mentioned that Royal Caribbean procedure was much more organized that other cruise lines that they have traveled. Read more