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How far away from Old San Juan is this ?

The Carib Hilton is in New San Juan...10-15 minute taxi ride.

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We stayed at the Sheraton Old San Juan. Loved it for its central location in Old San Juan...it allowed us to walk everywhere. Also, the staff was very helpful and friendly.

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"However, I firmly believe RC knew we weren't going. Their unwillingness to be forthcoming with the information make me throw shady side eye at RC. I did not have anything planned in St. Lucia, but I felt badly for the people who did make plans. I wish RC would have let us know sooner instead of at the last minute."

 

This is my issue too. They kept telling us and telling us we would be going to St. Lucia. I was "guaranteed," "assured" and "promised" by RCCL staff on the phone that we wouldn't be going to Martinique. Just be honest and at least tell us there is the possibility we might have a port change.

Allow people a chance to cancel plans if they made them with independent operators. Those are the people I felt bad for...RC would have gotten the short side of my tongue if I had plans that I couldn't cancel due to their change. Just let folks know!

Awesome, thank you for posting this and I am glad you all had fun! Definitely convinced me to go to the Meet and Greet as well as try out a couple of the excursions.

I never thought that the Meet and Greet would go so well. It was nice meeting the people who have been on the roll call, and everyone was so nice. RC gave door prizes...wine, RC gear. They were so welcoming of the group, and once again, the people were very nice.

Final Thoughts...

Let's start with the bad...there's really not a lot.

1. The airport on disembarkation day. You have to go through the Agricultural Line and have your luggage inspected. That was crazy. Not enough room for all those people. Very hectic...it moved fast, but it was hectic. Be prepared.

2. Royal Caribbean needs to do something regarding the Excursion Desk. Give them a bigger desk...give them their own room...something! However, I also think people need to come prepared to purchase. Grab the excursion booklet, look at it before getting in line, have your questions ready, have alternate options ready if you don't get your first choice, and be ready to book!

3. I heard a lot more kids this trip. When I say heard, I mean running up and down the hallways. This was not a RC problem, but a parent problem. Just be courteous to your other passengers, people. Take care of your kids...

Let's end with the good...

1. We loved the fact that it was port intensive, and we loved our ports. I was a little worried because I just finished my school year and some major projects and that my energy would not be able to keep up. It was actually amazing! Waking up somewhere new each morning and having the chance to do a little exploring was amazing! We had some fantastic experiences and this was a memorable trip.

2. One of the things I love about Royal Caribbean is they still employ live musicians. I know I didn't talk about them a great deal, but the band is fantastic. One of our favorite things to do each cruise is to go listen to the big band music show. They always do a great job, and quality music performed well is one of my favorites. Thank you, RC, for employing live musicians.

3. Staff makes or breaks cruises. It really was special to make contact with staff who we had in the past. I hope for more lucky accidents like this in the future.

4. The food was fabulous as always. I really like the BOGO deal we took advantage of, and when we sail on the Symphony next year, we're looking to do a specialty restaurants package exclusively.

5. San Juan is beautiful and incredibly easy to start a cruise. The airport is easy to navigate. Transportation and transfers are easy and upfront with costs. I can only speak of Old San Juan, but if you stay there, everything is within walking distance. There's incredible food, and DH really did love the coffee.

6. Being the only cruise ship in port is amazing! Last summer, we did a Western Caribbean, and there were 3 or 4 ships in port in Cozumel. WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE. However, we didn't share a port with any ship this cruise. Amazing!

7. Go to your Meet and Mingle! It really was fun, and I really liked the people I met.

This is probably my favorite cruise trip to date. We're really looking forward to the Western Mediterranean and to sailing on the Symphony. Our largest ship has been Freedom so we're really looking forward to the big boat. Thank you for taking this journey with me.

Pictures of Beautiful San Juan

Disembarkation and Cruise Tour

Our traditional "don't want to get off the ship" picture...

We had a tour scheduled to tour New and Old San Juan. We got up early and had our last breakfast int he MDR with Elmer. After breakfast, we reported to the Lounge so we could meet our tour.

Earlier in the week, we purchased a tour of San Juan. Basically, it was a tour and they took care of our luggage. They transported our luggage to the airport while we were touring, and the tour concluded by dropping us off at the airport. Our favorite part was the tour of the fort, and I wish we had more time there. We only had about 30 - 45 minutes there, and I could have spent another hour there. After the fort, they took us to the town center to wander around for an hour or so. We found Cafe Fortaleza, and I had an amazing Pastrami Sandwich. Brian was able to get his last cup of the Puerto Rican coffee he loved so much. Our tour driver then drove us to the airport. I wouldn't recommend this tour. The reason I wouldn't recommend this is because I could have done this on my own. Finding a cab is easy in San Juan and there are places that will hold your luggage so you can tour. If I were to do it again, I'd go on my own.

Pictures of the fort...

Last Day on the Ship (Sea Day)

Three Cruises and we managed to finally get a picture with Casey!

Woke up and ate breakfast in MDR. We got some tip envelopes so we could tip all the people we wanted to tip above our pre paid gratuities. Tip your people! These people work incredibly hard and do not get a lot of time off to relax. All of this to support their families so tip your people.

Also, we spent money at the T-shirt sale. Don't buy a t-shirt until the last day on the ship. They do their version of "Black Friday" where the shirts are $10. We bought shirts for our people at home and then went to the casino to learn how to play the table games. We dropped our stuff off and started to pack before lunch.

Lunch was the Tutti Salad Bar in the MDR. I had heard a lot about the salad bar, and it was really good. If you like salad bars, this is a really good one. They were also offering a make your own pasta bar, but I had so much food this cruise, I was not partaking of probably what was very good. Brian also had the barramundi fish, and that was very good as well. After lunch, we finished packing :( and hung around the ship. We missed the belly flop competition, but we saw it on the tv later that day.

My dinner:

Bay Scallops and Chorizo

Rigatoni Pasta with Prosciutto Chardonnay Sauce

Fish, Seafood, and Mash

Elmer brought me a brownie with ice cream because I didn't like the options on the menu. We LOVE Elmer!

Brian's Dinner:

Bay Scallops and Chorizo

Spanish Tapas

Fish, Seafood, and Mash

Key Lime Pie and Butter Almond Ice Cream

After dinner, we went to the Farewell Show and saw Lou Jackson. He was really funny, and we returned for the Adult Comedy Show later that night. Unfortunately, we were getting off the ship the next day.

Day 6...Barbados

We had an excursion to Harrison's Cave so we got up early and had breakfast in MDR. We were meeting in the port so we gathered our things and made the short walk towards the port center. After some waiting, we were shuffled into our buses, and we had the #1 Chris as our driver and tour guide. He was informative and knowledgeable and took us to the caves.

The caves are really cool. Lots of beautiful landscape. There's not much to say about the caves because it's a cave, but it's all really cool views.

After the cave tour was over, #1 Chris took us to a spot with beautiful views. I think it was called the Highland spot...it really was beautiful.

Toured around the immediate port center after we got back to shop for DH's shirt and magnet, and we were back on the ship. We braved the windjammer for a burger. It's good when you need something quick.

I don't remember what the theme was for dinner, but it was the last Formal Night and was Steak and Lobster night! On this sailing, formal nights were night 2 and night 5.

Brian and I had the same thing for dinner:

Creamed Wild Mushroom Pastry

Poblano Pepper and Corn Soup (the only thing I did not like on this sailing. I had our assistant waiter take it away.)

Lobster

Prime Rib (go ahead and order both!)

Baked Alaska (me)

Chef's Choice Dessert - White Chocolate Mousse (Brian)

Grand Mariner Souffle (Brian)

After dinner, we went to the Can't Stop the Rock Show. The singers, dancers, and band did an incredible job. After the show, we went to watch the Quest. Always so much fun and lots of laughs. Once again, the Cruise Compass tells you that this is an Adults Only activity. I saw young children at the Quest. One mom spent a good portion of the activity covering her child's eyes. Parents, please leave your kids out of the adults only events. I may not be the popular opinion on this, but you're not having fun trying to censor for your child, and your child isn't having fun trying to dodge your hands. Take the advice that the planners give you and find more appropriate activities for your kids.

We really enjoyed all the ports, but the next day is a sea day...

Day 5...Martinique

A couple of weeks before our cruise, there was scuttlebutt across Cruise Critic that we weren't going to St. Lucia. If you tried to book the cruise, it said Martinique. If you signed onto your account, it showed St. Lucia. People were calling RC, and RC was telling them that the cruise was going to St. Lucia. However, DH and I received an email the day before embarkation stating that we were not going to St. Lucia. They were replacing St. Lucia with Martinique.

I'm not upset they changed the itinerary. All the paperwork says they can do that. I've never been to St. Lucia or Martinique. Whichever way, I was seeing a new port. However, I firmly believe RC knew we weren't going. Their unwillingness to be forthcoming with the information make me throw shady side eye at RC. I did not have anything planned in St. Lucia, but I felt badly for the people who did make plans. I wish RC would have let us know sooner instead of at the last minute.

We had no big plans for Martinique. We were going to get off the ship, walk around for a little while, and come back. So, after breakfast in the MDR, we did that. We walked around the town a little bit and saw some things.

As you can see in the picture above, there is a tall steeple. We walked there and saw St. Louis Cathedral. It was beautiful. We then walked through the St. Augustine park towards the fort in hopes to tour it. However, it was closed when we got there so we walked back towards the ship. We hopped into swimsuits and headed up towards the solarium. The main pool was not full, but the solarium had a great deal of people lounging around that day. Hopped in the pool for a little while and then retired to some loungers to read my book. We managed to score loungers in the shade right by the window. The breeze was blowing through the open window, and the lounger was comfortable. I took a nap right there. Best nap all week! We endured the windjammer for lunch and popped over to Johnny Rockets to get our BOGO milkshakes.

Pictures of St. Louis Cathedral:

Part of the fort and the beach at Martinique

It was Shiitake night in the MDR. My dinner included:

Seafood Ceviche

Chicken Kiev

Sole

Chocolate Cake with chocolate ice cream

Brian's Dinner:

Seafood Ceviche

Shrimp Cocktail

Shrimp Gyozo (shrimp dumplings)

Pork Chop

Creme brulee and coffee ice cream

After dinner, we went to watch El Gaucho. He was hillarious and was the best show on the ship. It doesn't seem like it's going to be much, but he was impressive. Go see him... After El Gaucho, we went to the 70's dance party in the promenade. So much fun! I love singing all those songs and dancing with what feels like everyone on the ship. Great time!

Martinique was quaint and possessed a quiet charm. I hope to visit again when I've done a little more research.

The next day is Barbados...

Day 4...Antigua

My favorite day! My best days on a cruise are where we don't do an excursion through the boat. I always have the best memories when we go do something on our own. I'm a planner by heart; one of my favorite parts of vacation is the planning leading up to the actual trip. Cruise Critic has tapped into this part of my crazy.

As I have said before, DH and I are hard core workaholics. I'm a band director, and he works in retail. We work extremely hard so we can relax extremely hard. After booking scuba diving and a cooking class, we both decided that we wanted a beach day. I had planned for either Antigua or Barbados on being a beach day, but I really wanted to see those caves in Barbados. So, Antigua was going to be our beach day.

I did some research and read about "day passes." I didn't know much about them, but they sounded interesting. I chose the Pineapple Beach Resort. Now, I didn't book it before...I probably should have, but I didn't. We got off the boat after breakfast (yummy...eggs benedict and Brian's made to order omelet), and we went in search of a taxi. We asked the security lady at the gate where we could get a taxi, and she said talk to the guys in the orange shirts. Obviously, they have the control on the taxi situation in Antigua. We talked to one, and he arranged our taxi service for the day. Mr. Burton was an incredibly nice guy and very knowledgeable of his island. Now, this was a pricey day, but I don't put a price on peace and relaxation.

Our taxi ride with Burton was about 40 minutes away from the port. It was $64 round trip. We got to the Pineapple Beach Resort where it cost us $75 per person for a day pass. That pass included all drinks, food, and non motorized water activities. They had snorkeling, windsurfing, paddle boarding, and kayaking. We should have gotten directly off the boat and had breakfast here. Pineapple Beach Resort is an adults only resort. We found a thatched umbrella and set up camp for the day. It was so peaceful, and there were not that many people on the beach so it felt like you had the beach to yourself. If you're looking to get away from the hustle of the cruise crowd, Pineapple Beach Resort is a great way to do it. We loved it so much, we're planning a trip to just this resort.

Our view of the beach:

In addition, we had several recommendations to try the Outhouse Restaurant that was located at the top of the hill on the resort. About an hour and half before Burton was scheduled to pick us up again, we did the small hike up the hill to the restaurant. There were several beautiful views on our way up there. In addition, the Outhouse did not disappoint! It's run by a local family, and they basically serve a BBQ buffet. The man behind the grill could run a mean grill! He had BBQ chicken, ribs (meat was falling off the bone), and a fish he did on the grill. There were several types of salads and vegetables along with corn and baked beans. It's included in your day pass, and it was fantastic!

Views from the Outhouse:

Burton picked us up at the appointed time, and we headed back towards the port. I was sad to leave the resort...I really did enjoy the relaxing beach day. Once back at port, we found DH's magnet and shirt. We were also offered reefer in port. Not what we expected, but it was offered. Thanks?, Antigua...

It was Basil Night in the MDR.

My dinner:

Casear Salad

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Cilantro Encrusted Cod

Apple Pie a al mode...not a pie fan, but this was particularly yummy.

Brian's Dinner:

Crab Cake

Mushroom Soup

Catch of the Day - Salmon

Apple Pie a la mode

After dinner, we went to the ice show. It always amazes me how they're able to skate on the wobbly boat. We also felt more movement in this cruise than on the Freedom so it was more impressive they did all that skating. After the ice show, we went to the Love and Marriage game show. It was hilarious, but it was also a reminder that drinking too much has its consequences.

Next day...Martinique (substitution for St. Lucia...throws shady side eye at RC)

Do you recall if vaca brava has any American food options as well? I have some picky eaters but I want try try authentic food. Are the food trucks near the forts?

 

 

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I don't remember if Vaca Brava offered any American food options, but here is their website. It has a menu there to view and see if it's ok for your group.

https://www.vacabravapr.com/

We didn't find the forts the first night we were in town so I couldn't tell you for certain. Here's how I remember seeing/getting to the food trucks. If I went out of the Sheraton facing the water, turn right. It's about a 5 - 10 minute walk away from the hotel. You wouldn't be heading towards ship (if it was in port). It would be behind you. They smelled wonderful!

Day 3...St. Kitts and Nevis

We woke up early because we had an excursion in the morning. Went to the MDR where I had cereal and fruit. I can't eat whatever I want anymore...getting older sucks! Brian had the Salmon Benedict. He liked the smoked salmon.

For this stop, we did the Caribbean Cooks excursion. After a short tour of Basseterre, we toured the Fairview Plantation and gardens. It's a former sugar plantation that turned into a hotel that turned into a tourist spot. We participated in an informative cooking lesson with Chef Shae on how to cook their local flavors and dishes. We had a jerk seasoned pork, an incredible fish dish, vegetable ceviche, red beans and rice, and coconut bread pudding. Wonderful meal and lesson!

Fairview Plantation

View from the front porch

Cooking lesson

The food

After being taken back to the port area, DH and I shopped and found the monkeys! One of my favorite parts of the trip was getting to hold Sandy. I felt so sad for her because she had a leash and a diaper, but I did love getting to interact with her.

Sandy...

After walking around the port area, we went back to the ship for a nap. I did love that about this cruise. With it being so port intensive, we got up every morning, got off the ship to do the day's activity, and we were back inside the cabin around 2 p.m. for a nap. I don't relax well due to working all the time, but I got my "get up and go" out to come back for a nap. Marvelous!

Also, this was the night of the Meet and Mingle. I've never been to one before, but I was determined to make it to this one. It was so great meeting everyone, and I look forward to attending more in the future! Cruise people really are the best people!

After Meet and Mingle, we had dinner in the MDR for the first time, and we got to finally be with Elmer! The staff really makes or breaks cruises, and we've been so fortunate to have the best. It was such a happy surprise to see so many of our folks from Freedom on the Adventure this summer. Michael, Elmer, and Casey Pelter, the cruise director. My husband has only experienced Casey as his cruise director...I don't know what we'll do next summer when everyone will probably be different!

It was Pimiento night in the MDR...Italian...

My dinner:

Arancini

Chicken Marsala

Tiger Shrimp (yes...two entrees...I really just wanted the shrimp...)

Tirimisu

Brian's dinner:

Mozzarella Caprisi

Antipasti

Tiger Shrimp

Bread Pudding

After dinner, we changed and went to listen to karaoke which always provides for a great time. That night's headline show was the Elvis impersonator. I was not expecting much (...band director...music snob...impersonator...), but he was really good. Like...I won't miss this the next time I get on a ship good. He interacted well with the audience and could sing well.

We went to the "Finish the Lyric" game show which transitioned into "The Perfect Couple" game show. These provided a lot of laughs. Don't bring the kids to the perfect couple game show...you'll cover their eyes for a good portion. You'll laugh while you're covering their eyes, but you'll still cover them.

All in all, St. Kitts was a great day, but my favorite day is next, Antigua...

Sunday, St. Maarten

We woke up and had breakfast in the MDR which we did every day. Big crowds stress me out so we eat in the Windjammer minimally. They were serving the Crab Cake Benedict, and it was so good. The crab cakes were full of crab and not a lot of breading. We also discovered that our waiter from Freedom in 2016 was on the boat. We talked to one of the head waiters and requested to be moved into Elmer's section. They bent over backwards to make it happen, and I'm so glad they did. Elmer now feels like family, and I'm so glad that we were able to have him as our waiter for two years in a row. In addition, we requested to be seated in his section every morning for breakfast. So, if you're on the Adventure...find Elmer Merced. He's amazing and bends over backwards to ensure your dining experience is fantastic. We plan to keep in contact with him through Facebook...he really is amazing. Tell him Brian, Louise, Chuck, and Janet sent ya!;p

Elmer from our cruise in 2016

After breakfast, we got off the ship and went to the town center. I'm almost to the point that if you've seen one cruise port, you've seen them all. Find the Diamonds International and get accosted by their employees, look for sunglasses that change colors in Del Sol, and go touch the bamboo sheets in Cariloha. However, we got off the ship and got a water taxi wristband. It's simple...walk towards the town center and you'll see the water taxi stand on the left. It cost $7 per person for an all day wristband. We found DH's shirt and magnet. We headed back to the ship to get a light lunch in the Windjammer and get ready for our excursion that was in the afternoon. Lunch was fajitas...they were really good.

On the Water Taxi...

St. Maarten from the boat:

The excursion we had scheduled was the Discover Scuba Diving. The way it was advertised on the RC site was if you wanted to try scuba diving without the commitment of buying everything, this was the excursion for you. I've always wanted to try, and this sounded perfect for us. We met our group under the tent RC had set up outside the ship. The guide took us on a 1 minute ride to the scuba diving place. We had to sign health waivers and they fitted us for a vest and fins. The instructor then tells us about how to dive. Jonathan did a great job explaining everything, and we had to take a very short test on the information he covered. At that point, we got in the boat, and he took us to our diving spot. There were about 15 - 20 people who were doing the dive, and there were about 5 instructors. It worked out to about 3 people per group. Very manageable and hands on. After some reminders, we got in the water. Now, this is where I had issues. Jonathan was in charge of my group which included me, my husband, and another person. We had to practice breathing under water, and I couldn't stop being a nose breather. I got frustrated and felt very claustrophobic, and I knew it was not going to happen for me. Jonathan was very understanding that I wanted to quit. I ended up sunning on the front of the boat. My husband had an incredible time, and he was underwater for 30 minutes. He saw a helicopter, a sunken ship, and tons of fish and wildlife. I was totally jealous that he managed to finish, and in my stupidity did not. He wants to be certified now, and there is a dive shop close to where we live. I will try again. I would totally recommend this excursion as this was probably the best time Brian had. He really enjoyed his time underwater, and the people running the excursion were incredible. Yours truly just needs to go slower...maybe there's a special dive class for special learners. Sign me up!

For the BOGO, you have to do your meals on the first two nights. We did Giovanni's the night before so we did Chop's on this night. Once again, we had a waiter we had before, and Michael was fantastic.

My dinner:

Caesar Salad

Crab Cake (omg...yum!)

12 oz. New York Strip (medium)

Chocolate Cake

Brian's Dinner:

Wedge Salad

Crab Cake

16 oz. Rib Eye and Baked Potato

Key Lime Pie

Family Style Sharing on the table:

Grande Seafood Tower (upcharge)...wonderful addition...lobster, mussels, shrimp, stone crab claws, clams, and several types of dipping sauces. Served cold. We're from the MS Gulf Coast and tend to be seafood snobs, but this was good.

Mashed Potatoes - bypass this...nothing special

Mac and Cheese - pretty good

Asparagus - fantastic

Mushrooms - fantastic

In addition to celebrating Father's Day (early), Brian and I celebrated our anniversary. They brought a brownie covered in light cream and sang to us. Great way to top off the evening. We've now celebrated two anniversaries with Michael so it's special to see him. Thank you, Michael, for treating us with such kindness and professionalism!

Michael from our cruise in 2016...

We decided to retire early because the night show was dancing. We weren't interested so we decided to get some rest.

Next day...St. Kitts and Nevis...

Looking forward to the rest of your review. We are sailing on Adventure in November so I'm enjoying all of the adventure reviews lately!

 

What time were your dinner reservations the first night? We are also doing the BOGO but want to make sure we finish dinner in time to catch sail away.

I'm 99% sure our reservations were at 6:30 p.m. Just go up to the host desk in one of the specialty restaurants and they can schedule your reservations. Extremely helpful. I was really happy that Giovanni's Table was on the same deck as sail away so it was easy to leave and go straight to the party! Have fun in November!

Now that I have the picture thing figured out...

Our group...

Brian and his Kan Kan

Casa Cortes Chocobar...a wall of chocolate molds

My sundae and Brian's coffee

View from the hotel pool

The Sheraton Old San Juan

Saturday...Embarkation Day!

We woke up and had heard many wonderful things about Cafeteria Mallorca. We walked (loved our hotel and walking distance to things!) and had breakfast. The first thing that struck me were how many cops were seated at the bar area. It was the San Juan version of a donut shop! That was my first clue as to the awesomeness this place would be. In addition, there were many locals in the shop. I believe Brian and I were the only "english only" speakers in the room. I loved being amongst and interacting with the locals.

Brian and I both ordered the ham, egg, and cheese mallorca. Mallorca is a type of sweet bread. So yummy...the sweetness of the bread combined with the saltiness of ham and egg...loved it! In addition, we picked up some pastries from the shop to bring back to my MIL. Everything we had was amazing, and it was incredibly affordable. Fantastic breakfast spot!

We walked back to the hotel and stopped at the CVS on the way. There was a CVS on the way and a Walgreens on the other side of the hotel. Made it very convenient to pick up any last minute supplies needed for the trip. About a month before embarkation, we received an email about check in time. RC had people checking into the ship based on deck, and ours was scheduled for 2 p.m. Because of this, we checked our luggage in with the hotel porters and walked around the coast of Old San Juan. It was the first time we saw our ship! She's beautiful!

We also had lunch at Cafe Muelle. It was ok. Not our best food on the trip, but it wasn't horrible. My recommendation would be to find something else or wait to get food on the ship.

We walked back to the hotel and got our luggage from the porters. I had arranged transportation to the port. I used Puerto Rico Shuttle Van Services and Tours. I had read that the taxi situation could be hectic, and my family gets stressed around crazy so I decided to just schedule transportation. I paid $61 for all four of us to be transported to the port. The company was very professional, and the vehicle was very nice and clean. However, the Sheraton has the taxi stuff on point! It was not necessary for me to schedule transportation, but my FIL did comment how he liked not riding in a taxi cab. I would totally recommend the company, but I would use a taxi given the same circumstances.

We got to the port, and there were a lot of people trying to get on the ship. We stood in the "check in luggage" line and regretted this decision later. Once we got to the check in line, everything went smoothly and quickly. All in all, from feet on curb to feet on ship was about 20 minutes.

Our first picture on the ship

Because we checked in around 2:30, we were able to walk straight to our rooms. At this point, DH and I wished we had just schlepped the luggage to our cabin so we could unpack. Upon inspection of the cabin, the old girl is showing a little bit of age. However, it was nothing that was going to ruin our cruise. She's still beautiful, and she served her purpose for great memories. Our cabin had a funny smell, but I packed some oils, and it helped some. Note to self...buying a travel diffuser for our next trip.

We went directly to Next Cruise and booked our cruise for next summer. We were able to walk directly to an agent and book without having an appointment or waiting in a long line. Summer 2018 will be the Western Mediterranean on Symphony. SO EXCITED!

Also, we had a message to solve our BOGO reservations. While walking around the promenade, we recognized a waiter we had on Freedom last summer. He was our waiter when we tried Giovanni's Table for our anniversary in 2016. He's now in Chops, and we scheduled our BOGO reservations so we could have him again in Chops. Michael is amazing, and I highly recommend him for your waiter in the specialty venues. We went straight to Giovanni's Table and scheduled our reservations. We planned for Giovanni's Table on Day 1 and Chops on Day 2.

Brian and I went to muster which Cabin 8332's station is in the main dining room. Not a reason to choose a cabin, but muster was much more pleasant sitting in the AC at a table rather than standing in the cluster outside as they squeeze you tighter together. Lucky break!

We went back to the cabin to change for dinner, and our luggage arrived before we went to dinner. We unpacked and went to dinner.

Giovanni's Table is our favorite restaurant on the ship. We still prefer Portofino's to Giovanni's Table, but this restaurant is still good. We purchased BOGOs for the parents because we were going to celebrate Mother's Day one night and Father's Day another night. His parents live four hours away so it was nice to celebrate them in this manner. Our meal was delicious!

My meal:

Appetizer - Tonno Crudo - sliced rare tuna with a lemon citrus sauce

Soup - Cheese tortellini, Italian sausage, and pesto

Main Course - Lamb Shank

Dessert - Chocolate Cake, Panna Cotta

Brian's meal:

Appetizer - Tonno Crudo

Main Course - Swordfish

Dessert - Panna Cotta

We also shared the papardelle and ravioli amongst the table "family style." We left painfully stuffed, but it was worth it. Food was amazing!

We walked around the top of the ship where the sail away party was just getting started. Giovanni's is on Deck 11 so it was perfectly timed to go to sail away, and it was right outside the door! Getting a chance to walk and dance away some of the calories consumed was perfect. Puerto Rice is beautiful at night so I was glad we were able to be on the top deck for sail away.

Beautiful San Juan

We did some more exploring before the Welcome Aboard show which was Mike Pace. He was a comedian and was very funny.

Tomorrow...Saint Maarten!

You need to copy a link to your photo on Shutterly, use the Insert Image button here on CC, and paste that link in the Insert Image field.

I tried that, but my link is https:// instead of http://. How do I get rid of the security? I think that is what is messing me up. Thank you for the help! I really do want to share our photos!

Who we are, how we got here, and everything before embarkation...

I'm going to try my hand at writing a review from our recent cruise. I've tried before and failed, but I wrote notes throughout the cruise so I hope I can successfully finish.

A little about us:

My husband and I are in our late 30s (me!) and early 40s. Self described workaholics who believe is working hard and relaxing hard. This was my fourth cruise and his third. We got married on the Freedom years ago and have continued to cruise yearly. My husband fell in love with cruising, and I was not unhappy with this notion. More cruises for me! We're also foodies and willing to try new cuisines. For this trip, we traveled with his mom and dad. They love the pampering they experience on a cruise and are willing to go.

We booked this cruise while we were on the Freedom last summer. We actually booked a cruise to Alaska, but when I got home and did some research, I found this cruise, and it was cheap! Since my husband and I both had the Southern Caribbean on our radar, we called RC quickly and changed our itinerary. I let the parents know, and they changed as well. At that point, we were on a waiting game for a year.

Things we took care of before we left...

We purchased Brian's drink package. I'm pretty easy to please with water and tea and do not require a drink package. Brian likes his coffees and sodas so he had the Royal Replenish package. He loved the Starbucks counter (thank you to Paul Collins for his friendly smile every day!) and rarely used the soda cup. He didn't want to carry it around, and the machines have gotten worse over the years. There aren't enough machines, and with that many people using them, they're glitchy. Either the syrup is low or there isn't enough carbonation. By the end of the week, the machines are empty. So, he gets his fill on coffee and bottled waters.

We purchased two excursions when they had the sale on excursions earlier this year. We chose Discover Scuba Diving and Caribbean Cooks. I'll talk more about these later.

We purchased the BOGO dining offer. Since the ship only had two restaurants, we were happy to have this offer. I'll talk more about these later.

Travel to San Juan and what we did when we got there...

We flew to San Juan the day before embarkation on Delta. First class seats are fantastic, and our flight attendant, JC, was amazing. He was the most attentive flight attendant I've every experienced. Extremely welcoming and just went above and beyond what flight attendants normally do. We had an easy flight that was mostly on track. Our connection in Atlanta was a little late, but it didn't have us arriving late in San Juan. It only backed us up by 15 minutes so it was still easy.

When we arrived in San Juan, we collected our baggage, connected with my in laws, and hailed a taxi. Getting a taxi was SUPER EASY. You walk out the airport, and there is a taxi queue line. There was no one in the line because we got our stuff very fast (thank you, Delta Priority), and we were in a cab on our way to the Sheraton Old San Juan within 15 minutes. Our drive to the hotel took about 20 minutes. The fee was standard...$26 for all four of us. I love efficiency!

The Sheraton Old San Juan is located on the main strip. I chose it because I had read it's centrally located, and you could walk to several things from the hotel. This was true (thank you, Cruise Critic...). When you walk in for check in, go left. I initially went right and was talking to the concierge. It's hard to see the desk from the doorway, but walk left. The desk is there, and they're friendly. I don't remember what I had reserved, but I know I upgraded to a suite with a partial view. Partial view totally meant partial view. I saw a little bit of ocean and a whole bunch of air conditioning unit. However, the room was spacious and clean, and it was going to work for one night. I'm picky about beds, and I could have stayed in this one forever.

After we dropped off luggage and refreshed a little, we got the parental units and went to get dinner. We chose to eat at Vaca Brava. I'm a band director, and one of my students recommended this to me. Her family is from Puerto Rico so I asked for some spots. They brought this to me. It was a great spot to start the vacation in San Juan. Very fun vibe, lots of music, very friendly people. Brian and his father ordered the Kan Kan, which was a phallic shaped pork chop that was fried. He said it was fantastic. Basically, it was the pork chop and the side of the big deep fried. Brian said the edges were almost like fresh fried pork skins. The rice on his dish was amazing. His mother and I tried the mofongo. They said they had the best mofongo, but you see that claim all over San Juan. I only tried their mofongo, and it was really good. I was happy.

After dinner, we walked to the Casa Cortes Chocobar. Once again, thank you, Cruise Critic. This was fantastic. I love chocolate! When I read about this place, it became a go to spot. Since I do most of the planning, the Chocobar was a have to do! Brian had a chocolate coffee, and I had the chocolate sundae. My sweet MIL had a chocolate croissant, and FIL had a chocolate milkshake. Everything was wonderful. This is probably a great place for breakfast, but it hit the spot for dessert on Friday night.

After the Chocobar, we walked down to the water where there were several food trucks set up. I wish we had went there (I love a good food truck!), but we thoroughly enjoyed our choices. We walked back to the hotel and went up to the pool. The pool is a disappointment. It's really small, but there are some beautiful views. Go with your camera and not your bathing suit. You'll be happier.

I promise to try to fix the pictures. If someone can give me some help on using a laptop with shutterfly and this site, I'd greatly appreciate it.

We did the dolphin swim in St. Maarten. They took you on a boat to another island, and it took about around an hour to get to where we went. The swim was held in a large, fenced in area in the ocean. I felt safe and thought the dolphins had adequate room to live. While we waited for our group's turn, we had the beach to ourselves. It was fantastic. I would recommend the St. Maarten excursion.

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Hey Katie5290,

First off, breathe...I know that's hard to do when it's your wedding, but one of the best parts of the cruise wedding experience is that you can't micromanage it and stress yourself out.

I did an embarkation day wedding out of Port Canaveral on Royal Caribbean. My wedding was on the Freedom of the Seas. In June, my husband and I will celebrate our 3 year anniversary. I hope I can help you in some way. Here is a link to the itinerary I sent to the people attending our wedding. It helped keep everyone on the same page.

Wedding Itinerary

About 2 weeks to a month before your wedding (I know this timeline sucks for the control freak that I am), you will get a call from RC and you will finalize the details of your wedding. It's all pretty much the same as far as structure of the day. I customized all my stuff...I brought my own minister, I made all my flowers, I brought my own burned CDs of music that I wanted played. I did not do a photographer...I used RC so I can't comment to your concern there, but I love my wedding pictures. I did a traditional wedding invitation. I didn't burn a whole bunch of money on invitations because I believe it's something that people will throw in the garbage so I ordered my invites from theamericanwedding.com. I used one of their cheapest invites and customized to what I wanted. It was still very pretty and classy. Do what you want...I also thought the passport ones were cute, but that was way too much crafty for me. My invites were this...

Wedding Invitation

I included an RSVP card and a letter for all the things that would be necessary on that day. Here is a link to my letter...

Invitation Letter

My wedding weekend looked like this...

Friday...everyone arrived

Saturday...went and had mani/pedi with my man of honor that morning. Spent the afternoon around the pool with all my guests. Had the hotel cater and host a Welcome Dinner for everyone. Did toasts, bridal party gifts, and that kind of stuff at the welcome dinner. After dinner, the group hung out by the pool...we delivered OOT bags to the people who were cruising.

Sunday...my makeup/hair person arrived at 6:30 a.m. at the hotel. Did hair and makeup all morning until time to go to the boat. I coordinated everyone's shuttle from the hotel to the ship. They had to take care of their own self that morning. I did all the pre-planning for them...they had to follow through. Also, we had people assigned to take stuff on the boat. We tried to do most everything the night before, but we had dependable people take our flowers, wedding favors, and guest book on the boat for us. I carried my dress onto the boat. Left the hotel by 10:15 a.m....did checkin and all what you see on the schedule with the wedding planner. THAT WAS THE ABSOLUTE CRAZIEST PART...GETTING ON THE BOAT...LEAVE EARLIER THAN 10:15. On the boat around 11:15ish...into our room to get dressed, getting married around noon. All non sailing guests were off around 3. It was a whirlwind morning. Cruised the rest of the week.

I hope you have a fantastic wedding...don't hesitate to ask any questions if I didn't cover it. Just remember to breathe...being married to your husband is the most important thing anyways. I have the most fantastic memories of my wedding day, and people still talk about what a great wedding weekend we had. The people who cruised with us still talk about what a great trip it was. Have fun!

So after the craziness of traveling to Port Canaveral, I was looking to a semi calm Saturday of spending time with friends around the pool and just relaxing. It kind of happened.

My Man of Honor and I went to get pedicures. Not knowing the area and just wanting to stay close, we went to Image Nails and Spa. The people were nice, but my nails were not good. I decided on a pink nail polish for my toes and a french for my hands. The white in the french had bubbles, and the pink was not applied well. I'd find somewhere else to go.

After nails were finished, we went back to the hotel. We worked on the small centerpieces for the welcome dinner that night. We made CDs of some of our wedding music to give to all our guests. Also, we thought they might enjoy the music on their way home after the wedding on Sunday. In addition to the CDs, my husband's aunt made some very cute mint favors. Originally intended for a wedding, we used them at the Welcome Dinner because we couldn't bring food on the boat. Besides the small table centerpieces, we also brought a good bit of chocolate after Valentines Day. We scattered the candy to help decorate the table. They turned out nice.

We used the hotel's catering to do the Welcome Dinner. We planned a "cookout" next to the pool. They did a wonderful job with the food. BBQ chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, fixings, and different salads for sides...it was really good. They also had watermelon and an apple crumble dessert. We were very pleased with the welcome dinner. After the dinner, we delivered the bags to our sailing guests so they could pack it in their suitcases for the next day. Finally, we got to spend time by the pool with our guests. It was a great way to relax for a few moments with the people we care most about.

That evening, I spent time steaming my dress with close friends. It was a special time. My husband did a wonderful job of making sure that we had the car packed with stuff that we would not need for the cruise and finalizing the packing for the next day. It was a late evening, and I knew that 6 am was going to come early when the hairdresser would show up. I'll get more into the check in fiasco of the next day.

I've attached a picture of the mint favors and the small table centerpieces. Looking forward to talking about our wedding day!

Thank you! I forgot to add that we got each one of our sailing guests a t-shirt. I'll try to find a picture of them if I can.

I hope that I can do an awesome job like past brides have done because the information they provided was so beneficial to my planning. So here I go with my review.

We decided to do a cruise wedding in April, 2013. After researching cruises, we decided on Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas for June 1, 2014. Our families had a lot of reservations about Carnival because of all the bad press they were getting in the news. There were a lot of cruising newbies so the media really played into those fears. Also, I wanted to do an embarkation day wedding. We had people who wanted to attend but could not cruise, and I had no desire to have the wedding looming over my head during the cruise. I wanted the wedding finished so I could enjoy my honeymoon. We had 21 people cruising with us, and 41 people total attended the wedding. We chose the Paradise Shipboard package, and we did the 1 hour buffet luncheon for a reception.

Friday, May 30, 2014 - We left home to travel by car to Port Canaveral, FL. We drove two cars because I had to drive my mother and brother, and we needed two cars because of all the stuff we were bringing. We had the following boxes and bags of stuff:

1. Out of Town Bags

2. Welcome Dinner Table Centerpieces / Decorations

3. Wedding Clothes

4. 3 Suitcases, Overnight Bag, and Hanging Garment Bag

We brought everything but the kitchen sink. It took us about 9 hours to do the drive so by the time we arrived at the hotel, we were ready to relax! We stayed at the Radisson Resort at the Port in Port Canaveral, FL. These people were so pleasant and accommodating. When we arrived, they told us they had upgraded our room to a suite. That was a blessing because of all the stuff we had to do and put together. They also upgraded my man of honor's room to a suite, and we ended up doing hair and make up in his room. It was a great place to relax. The Radisson was also a great choice because the Orlando airport is about a 45 minute drive from the hotel. We had to pick people up from the airport so it was a straight shot from the hotel to the airport. VERY EASY DRIVE!

Attached are pictures of the OOT bags we gave to our cruising guests. Included was a bag that we got embroidered with our wedding date/date of cruise. We did not want to throw our name on everything because I don't like having a whole bunch of stuff with other people's names on it. In the bag, we put the following items:

1. Embroidered blankets. We saw people using them during movies on the big screen by the pool. Our colors were gray and pink. I ordered gray fleece from a fabric company, and his mother and sister made the blankets. We took the blankets to a friend who did a fabulous job with embroidering them.

2. Clorox Wipes

3. Lanyards to hold sea passes

4. First Aid Kit

5. Motrin

6. Emergen-C (for hangovers)

7. Walmart Brand Motion Sickness Pills (8 pills to a box for about $2 per box)

8. Airborne

9. Pocket pack of Tissues

10. Hand Sanitizer

11. Sunscreen

12. Tums

13. Clothes Pins (was very handy when I needed to hang bathing suit off the chair on my balcony and clip my towel to my chair by the pool)

14. Shout Wipes

15. Highlighter for planning with the compass each night

16. Information packet which included - Letter from my husband and I, picture page of each person attending the cruise with their name and how we know them, and a wedding day timeline.

I will continue later. Hope this information helps because I stole so many ideas from previous brides!

On Sunday, I will be getting married on the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas in Port Canaveral, FL. I have found the RC people to be pretty quick in responding to my emails and phone calls. Only one time did I want to come through the phone because I thought the representative was rude. Most of the time, the people have been very friendly, accommodating, and knowledgeable. My fiancee and I loved Nicole…she's the one who ended up being our wedding planner. SO friendly…so patient with me when it took me a minute to get stuff returned to her. She knew she was going on vacation right about when our money was due to finalize our reception, and she let me know so I could finally finish. I felt that she wanted to finish our plans and did not want to pass us off to someone else for the week she was gone. I respected that level of honesty and commitment in making sure our stuff got done correctly.

As people have said above, you have to have a certain level of trust in this process that it will come together even though you are planning from so far away. I learned a great deal from this board…most of my information came from previous brides that would contribute here. Don't be scared to dig through this board. The previous brides have been thorough, and so much of my experience matches what they said. What time I would have to be in port, what is allowed to brought onto the boat, what services the boat provides…my final wedding report is pretty clear and looks like a lot of what people have said before. I have made a lot of little changes…such as I'm bringing my own flowers and my own officiant. Nicole rolled with the punches and all the little ways we wanted to personalize are going to happen.

I wish you luck in your planning process. I have thoroughly enjoyed my planning process, and I can't wait to marry my best friend on Sunday. I really can't wait to celebrate with the people who are choosing to be there and spend the rest of the week with us. If you have specific questions, please don't hesitate to ask.