My wife and I took our 9th cruise, but first in the Southern Caribbean aboard the Serenade of the Seas. We flew into San Juan on Friday from Roanoke. We got to fly first class on US Airways with an upgrade on their 767. Spent the evening at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Casino. On Saturday, we slept in late and enjoyed a relaxing morning at the hotel before heading over to the ship. We took a cab to the pier. Once we made our way inside, it took exactly 6 minutes before we were standing on the ship. I cannot speak for every port, but, at San Juan, they have the process down to a science. Very efficient. We arrived about 12:30, so, we went to lunch at Windjammer before heading to our stateroom. Our Cabin Attendance, Iowan, was probably the most attentive, yet unobtrusive cabin attendant we have ever had. We had great table mates as well. Never have had such a great group of dinner mates as we did on this cruise. Our Waiter, Inacio and Assistant, Corneille were great. Food was good for the most part except for the prime rib on the last formal night. I asked for Medium rare and got a piece of meat that was near raw. Not to mention, it was full of fat and looked as if it had just been thrown on the plate. I could not believe Inacio served it to me looking like that. Once he realized his mistake, he immediately fixed the problem. We also ended up having him as our breakfast waiter for 4 of the 8 breakfasts as well. Had a problem with laundry, lost some items. 1st Housekeeper came to our room and apologized and waived the laundry charge. Also, make sure you send the coupons with the laundry and don't try to take them to Guest Services later as it will take an act of congress to get the coupon honored (3 calls and 2 visits, plus visit from chief purser...cost to argue with us cost them way more than $5!!)

These were the only issues we had the entire 8 days, everything else went GREAT! The Mystery Dinner Theater was a hoot and the food from Portofino was great (the Tiramisu was the best I EVER had). Could not have asked for a better time.