This was our second back to back cruise, the first was Eastern/Western Caribbean, a truly awesome time on the Independence of the Seas to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We were a bit apprehensive that this cruise would never measure up to the first, especially as the ship was older and smaller, but we needn't have worried, it exceeded all our expectations.

At this point I will say that we work very hard to pay for our holidays and we aim to enjoy ourselves! We realise that there are a few thousand passengers on board, all with different tastes and habits and it is impossible to please everyone. We relish the new experiences cruising brings, meeting people from different countries and cultures, and we don't expect home cooking.

We flew from Heathrow to San Juan, via JFK, the worst airport in the world. We landed in a storm, to the news that all flights were cancelled until the next day, and had a 21 hour wait for our connection. It was an awful time, and we just made it to the ship in the late afternoon with just a couple of hours to set sail. So no queues! Some were not so fortunate and didn't join the ship until 2 days later at Barbados. Read more