Background Information: We are a cruise loving couple 49 & 57 years old with no children. This was our 32 cruise overall, and our first cruise on Royal Caribbean, but certainly not our last. We live in the San Francisco bay area and tend to cruise on the west coast to stay rather close to home, at least at this point in our lives. We have cruised the Mexican Riviera several times prior to this cruise on Princess, Carnival, Norwegian and Celebrity and have stayed at hotels in many of these ports before. Hotel Info: We flew from the bay area to San Diego the morning of the cruise so had no pre-cruise experience to report. We did stay one night afterwards at the Hyatt Grand Manchester Hotel, which is located right at the edge of Seaport Village and also within walking distance of the pier (although wouldn't attempt the walk with luggage). What a great choice, even though by the time the cruise was completed, we were ready to just come home. Although we didn't pay for the more expensive room, they were kind enough to put us into a bay view room with a great view of Coronado and the bridge. The train did wake us up a couple of times during the night, but we were warned of this. As mentioned, we were tired by the time we got back to San Diego (a bit more on that later) so kind of just wanted to go home. We did, however, venture out and did thoroughly enjoy the aircraft carrier museum that was located right next to the cruiseship pier. It was well worth the effort for these tired travellers. If you visit the visitor's center across the street from the cruiseship terminal, they sell the tickets for the museum at a slight discount. The real purpose to make a stop in there, though, is that they spend time with you to make sure you make the most out of your time in San Diego. Great tips to be had with very personable volunteers!

Travel To Port of Embarkation: As mentioned, we took the short flight from the bay area to San Diego the morning of the cruise. I love sailing out of San Diego as it is located within just a couple of miles to the pier so once you land, you are almost already there. We got to the pier to see our new residence for the next 11 nights by 11:00 AM. This was the only ship in port and we were pretty early in arriving so absolutely no crowds to contend with. We checked our luggage with the porters (inside the terminal) and proceeded to check in with no lines. After a speedy and efficient check in by a most friendly woman, we directed to the waiting area as boarding had not yet begun. Although the terminal is not the most comfortable one ever seen, it was clean and a Royal Caribbean representative kept us posted on when we could expect to board. We really only waited a matter of 45 minutes and we were well on our way onboard. Ship Info: Once onboard, we were not allowed to drop off our carry on luggage in our room (sometimes this is allowed), so had to drag it along up to the Windjammer to get a bite to eat and sit down. We were happy that the elevators all seemed to be operational and rather quick so we didn't have to carry the luggage up the stairs. Once in the Windjammer, we were rather surprised at how nice the tables and chairs were and also the separate food stations which really cut down on the lines. This could have been ugly because everyone had their carry on luggage, but seemed to move along seamlessly. As it did get later, the Windjammer got a lot more crowded and we were more than happy to share our table with some experienced RCCL pax that gave us tips on how to best enjoy our cruise. This is also where we met AP, a bar server that did her best to meet our request. We had pre-purchased a wine package and were inquiring about having a bottle brought to our table so we could celebrate our sailing. Alas, we were told that the wine had not yet been loaded onboard and we would have to wait until dinner to actually get one of our bottles. One improvement would be if Royal Caribbean would actually allow you to arrange for a bottle of wine in your room to sip during sail away, but it really didn't detract from our overall experience. Plus, it was so nice to meet AP in her attempts to help us out, that we made a friend which we enjoyed chatting with during the entire cruise. Once we were allowed (about 1 1/2 hours later) we made our way down to our room (more on that below) to drop off our luggage and tour the ship. We were greatly impressed by the layout of this ship and all the beautiful woodwork and nautical theme. Oh yes, and all the glass...it was so beautiful. She is certainly the prettiest ship I have ever seen. Nothing seemed to be awkward as we made our way around the decks. We really love ships this size, about 2000-2500 pax capacity and also love having an indoor pool. This area quickly became one of our favorite areas to hang out but spent a lot of time at the outdoor pool as well. We loved the layout of the ship and the ease of getting around. Everything was kept so clean and even though she is a bit older, things seemed to be kept in pretty good condition. The Centrum was fabulous and loved being able to enjoy the entertainment from any level....it never seemed crowded. There were lounge chairs of all different types throughout the ship on the outside decks, although they were packed in a bit tight and those small tables seemed to be nonexistent. However, you could always find a place for some solitude if you wanted. I also loved that aspect of this ship. The Aurora theater and lounges were of ample size and they never seemed overcrowded and we didn't have any trouble getting a seat for the shows or presentations. Oh, and the casino -- have to mention this as we also spent a lot of time in there, too. It was a decent sized casino, typical for a cruiseship. One side was supposed to be non-smoking but that never really caught on. It was fortunate for us that this was not a big smoking cruise even though a fair number of people did not seem to be from California. Formal nights were completely non-smoking so this was our entertainment on these nights. We found some great poker machines but were rarely open and got hooked on that machine that pushes the quarters off the ledge. Needless to say, we left a lot more there than we took out and it didn't seem like anyone was really winning much in there but this is typical for a cruiseship casino.

Activities: Cannot believe we missed the Quest activity, everyone mentioned it was a blast. Don't even know when this occurred but we had so much fun that we might just have to hit it next time around. They had some fun activities around the pool, which I love and a pretty decent band that played music from the Caribbean at the pool stage. The activity staff seemed to keep everyone smiling and laughing. We did play the rock and roll music trivia -- almost won, fell a couple of points short is all. That was great fun and met a nice family there as well. Read more