Background: We are a family of 4, two daughters, ages 15 & 11. This is my 6th RCCL cruise and 10th overall. The girls have cruised 8 times, this being their 5th on RCCL. We have sailed on NCL, Princess, and Celebrity, all of which we have enjoyed, but we keep coming back to RCCL for their consistent family cruise experience. This is our first cruise on the Freedom Class ships.

Pre-Cruise: We stayed at the JW Marriott for 2 nights in downtown Miami. The staff were absolutely one the best we have experienced in a long time. The rooms were large enough for the 4 of us and the bathrooms very nice. There is a fabulous gym and pool to enjoy on the roof of the 6th floor. The JW is convenient to a lot of nice eateries that are about 2 blocks away. It was a $5 cab ride to Bayside, where we enjoyed walking the outside mall and seeing all the visitors shopping. We had a fun, delicious and bountiful lunch at Bubba Gumps. The cab fare to the cruise port was $10 with tip. Regular rates for the JW seem to be all over the map based on my conversations with other guests, anywhere from $117 for a military discount to $350, as posted on the web. We paid $140, including tax and fees, through Priceline, so I feel like we got a good value; however, many folks on our roll call were scoring other hotels for about $60 a night, and those hotels were located near Bayside. Should we cruise out of Miami again, we'll try Bayside just because we like being closer to the action.

Embarkation: We left the JW around 10:50AM and we were on the Liberty by 11:30AM. When we arrived at the Cruise Port, our baggage was taken and we entered the terminal. Our check in was immediate and our wait time until they starting boarding was less than 5 minutes. Kudos to RCCL for a smooth and quick process. Read more