My wife booked this cruise a year ago in July while we were driving from Florida to Tennessee to visit family. Our cruise rep at Royal Caribbean worked with her for over an hour on the phone mind you, getting us the best deal possible. We knew we wanted an outside cabin with a balcony and we were able to book that at a decent price. I will cover shore excursions later. Once booked we anticipated the departure for the rest of the year and began to make travel plans. We did not let RC do our travel and hotels, I did the departure hotel, Holiday Inn Express at the airport and wife did the return stay (3 nights) at Cedar Brook Lodge.

We took the shuttle from our hotel to the port. We arrived and checked in on the ship around 11 a.m. on Friday. It was my wife's birthday, June 15 and I had RC decorate our cabin accordingly. We were able to get in our cabin at 1 pm and it was very nice and much more than I had anticipated, even having cruised with RC before. One mistake we made, was we put both our hand carry bags on pier side to be picked up. My wife's meds were inside and as luck would have it, that was the last bag we received! Note to self: don't do that again!

We checked the ship over, ate lunch at the Windjammer and it was the usual OMG it's a ship board buffet! Food on this trip was exceptional. Only one evening was the food in the main dinning room not "over the top". My wife ordered fish and it was deep fried and not the best she's ever eaten. Otherwise, every meal was amazing for us. Prime rib, lobster, lasagna, etc etc. We loved it. We met a lovely Scottish couple first night in the dining room and my wife and Linda bonded instantly. Her husband John and I sat back and let the ladies talk.. which they DID! Read more