This was our second cruise on Royal Caribbean and our first repositioning cruise. As Floridians, we usually sail from Jacksonville, Port Canaveral or Fort Lauderdale. We found the embarkation process in Boston to be fine. The port was easy to find and the drop off seamless. The registration line was long for non-pinnacle or diamond members and we waited in line to register for more than 45 minutes. One of our traveling companions required a wheelchair assist and unfortunately she was made to wait an additional 45 minutes for to board. Once on board we were greeted with a glass of champagne and directed to the Windjammer Lounge for lunch. We were pleased that we were able to go to our cabin by 1:30 pm.
Itinerary - This cruise began with three days at sea followed by visits to St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Barbados, Aruba, Curacao followed by three more sea days. Loved the ports of call but I wished that we had been able to stay in Curacao (my favorite port) more than just 6 hours. We took bus tour excursions in St. Kitts, Barbados and Aruba. The excursions were good and just long enough to give us time to to explore our ports of call and taste the local beer before re-boarding. We did not book excursions in St. Lucia or Curacao and those stops ended up being my favorite because we were able to explore the neighborhoods, taste the local beers and delicacies and mingle with the islanders. In St. Lucia we took the short walk to the IGA Supermarket for Banana Ketchup (really delicious) and only available in St. Lucia.
Cabin - We were is stateroom 7064 which is an obstructed balcony stateroom. The obstruction was minimal and our view was not impaired (I do not need to look down). As with real life, you cannot choose the individuals in the adjoining cabins so I will not say more :) I was surprised by the amount of storage space in the cabin. Our cabin steward Marius did a great job and we looked forward to seeing him every day. This cabin is above the clubs and lounges on Deck 6 but we did not have any noise problems during the cruise.
Great cabin, clean and lots of space for storage. Obstructed view not a problem and the cabin is quiet.