Background: DH and I are in our mid 20's with no children.We were cruising for our 5 year wedding anniversary. We prefer smaller ships with fewer people. We don't need all the bells and whistles of the ship, as we prefer to cruise for the destinations. This was our 4th and 5th cruise on Royal Caribbean, and the hubby has also cruised princess. This was our second time on the Serenade. We had booked Cabin 8592 on deck 8, an E1 balcony on the "hump" for both weeks of the Back to Back.

Travel day down: We flew out of Grand Rapids, MI very early on Saturday. Our flights went smoothly, and as soon as the wheels touched down in San Juan, we were to our gate, received our luggage, and took a cab to our hotel in less than 45 minutes! It was the smoothest travel we have ever encountered. It was $19 for the cab to our hotel, plus $1 for each bag.

Hotel: We spent Saturday night in Old San Juan at the SOFO Casablanca Hotel. For only $103, the location cannot be beat. We were within walking distance to everything in Old San Juan. The room was clean, but very small. There were few amenities, and the hotel was very noisy. My suggestions would be for the hotel to put some kind of shower rack in the shower, and provide better television service (only 5 or 10 channels). I would not want to spend more than one night in this hotel, but for a pre-cruise stay, it was okay. In the future, we will bid for one of the chain hotels on a travel site. Read more