In late January of this year (2018), my wife and I decided we wanted to do a Caribbean Cruise to shorten the winter a bit. I've cruised a few times before, once on RC a couple of decades ago, but my wife had never been on a cruise ship. We targeted the Eastern Caribbean islands and started looking for something no more than 3 months out, fairly short notice. This cruise itinerary seemed the best fit, particularly with the added attraction of 8 nights vs 7 (why not stretch the fun a bit?), as well as the fact that my last experience on RC was very positive.

After we booked and were telling my best friend and his partner about it, they got excited about the itinerary and decided to join us. I think I can speak accurately for them as well in this review. We took a redeye flight that left Salt Lake City at midnight on the 16th, our friends left Las Vegas to meet us about the same time and all arrived bleary eyed and starved in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday morning, March 17th. We didn't really have time to explore the area, except for a fabulous breakfast at nearby Lester's Diner before heading to Port Everglades. We were anxious to get onboard and explore our new home for the coming week.

Embarkation was fairly smooth, but a little more lengthy than we expected. We received an email the day before the cruise, advising that the Coast Gaurd was conducting a special inspection, so maybe that slowed things a bit. After about 90 minutes we were onboard sitting in the Bull & Bear pub on the deck 4 Promenade. Our cruise experience was underway and we were celebrating with several rounds and toasts. We all had Superior Balcony Staterooms on deck 7 port side just aft of the library, our friends only being about ten doors down the hall. We loved our rooms and their location on the ship and will always book balconies on future cruises. One thing we all noticed and liked was the subtle vibration of the engines or props felt in our rooms, especially when in bed, which served as a relaxing aid to falling asleep. Beds were a bit on the hard side, but we were so dead tired every night that it didn't matter much. Read more