We chose to sail from San Juan, Puerto Rico in order to see the southern islands not normally available from the Florida ports. First off, the experience of boarding from San Juan was phenomenal. From the time we were dropped off, to the time we were on the ship took 25 minutes! Also, a small note that LYFT is not available in Puerto Rico so Uber or a taxi from Condado to the port was $22 for 4 people.

We had sailed on the Dawn to Bermuda before so we were familiar with the ship. I prefer this size to the larger ships (getaway, breakaway) but there is not as many activities for kids on the Dawn and the pool is fairly small. Apart from that, we love the ship. The theater is easily big enough to accommodate the entire passenger size and you do not need to reserve a time to see any show. We particularly enjoyed the acrobats and the "Elements" show which featured the entire entertainment team. I will say that I was not that impressed with the singing and the Soul Rocking Nights was a broadway-stylized rock show and not very good.

The islands we saw were St.Lucia- excellent, Barbados- good, Antigua- okay, St. Thomas- excellent, and Tortola-okay. Read more