We'd booked the cruise online through the company web site and everything went smoothly and all questions were answered promptly. We arranged flights going to LAX a week earlier than the cruise start and we were still given a free night at the Westin Hotel in L.A. so that we could be picked up and taken to the ship rather than having to make our own way there. Check in at the hotel was fine and we were given a welcome letter detailing the time we needed to be in the lobby and when we would be collected for transfer to the ship. (Good)

The next morning we congregated in the lobby along with about 50 of our fellow passengers and we waited, and waited, and waited for over an hour and a half after our pick-up time with no sign of any representation from Royal Caribbean. Finally one of the passengers rang the company and was told that the ship had been late in docking because of fog and that we would be collected very shortly. When the coach finally arrived we had a smooth transfer to San Pedro and even though there were many passengers arriving at the same time we were processed quite quickly at the terminal and went to board the ship. This is where we were put in a long line waiting to board and it took over half an hour before we eventually reached the gangway. (Bad) Once on board we went straight to our stateroom to check it out and were pleasantly surprised at the good use of available space and we never had the feeling of being cramped - even in the shower! The Stateroom attendant was cheerful and efficient and even came to our rescue by threading a needle that our failing eyesight couldn't do. (Good)

We attended a couple of the evening shows but couldn't cope with the American humor(?). The shows for second sitting ended up being shown at 7.00 p.m. , which we found too early as this was the time that we were getting ready for dinner. I can probably understand why this was done as most passengers seemed to be ready to retire for the night around 10.30 p.m. at the time most cruise ships have their second sitting shows. The entertainment staff did a good job in keeping various forms of entertainment going all day and no passenger could complain about being bored.(Bad - Good) Read more