This cruise was to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. My husband had never been on a cruise and had no idea what to expect. I had cruised about 40 years ago with NCL and enjoyed it very much. Life happened and road trips were easier. I wanted to do something BIG for our anniversary and I talked hubby into this cruise. We're from San Diego, I wish RCI would put a ship in San Diego or Los Angeles so we didn't have to fly and stay in a hotel before our cruise, that gets pricey. At any rate, I did a lot of research, my family nickname is Research Queen, I chose RCI for many good reasons. We sailed out of Ft Lauderdale, Port Everglades, such a beautiful port city! We chose a Western Caribbean cruise as our "first" time because I had gotten seasick all those years ago so I thought staying somewhat close to ports would make it less rough, no idea if that's true but we had no problem. I found some "natural" ear patches, I can't do Meclizine which is what is in the Dramamine and Bonine, I didn't feel sick once.
This was at the onset of the Covid-19 so we just made the cut to cruise before they started shutting it down. I'm still a "member" of this sailing's page and not one person ever reported getting sick. This ship was spotless!! The crew was constantly cleaning and there were sanitation stations everywhere!
Embarkation was flawless, as was disembarkation, as we got up and out early. We arrived at about 10:30 and it was starting to get busy but we were the second group let on the ship and had no problems. I had a few things I wanted to take care of right away so I had my poor husband running ragged while trying to arrange dining options, scheduling shows that I had been unable to do online, etc. We finally made it to Central Park for our first drink, it was one of our favorite drink spots, so pretty!
We had no problem with the size of this cabin but there were only two of us, any more than that, I would have wanted a bigger cabin. The king bed was placed next to the slider and balcony. The decor was nice and it was extremely clean!
Lots to do but we just had a drink, shopped and relaxed by the main pool.
We just got off to do a bit of shopping and have a drink at Senor Frogs. Too much soliciting for us.
Just shopped a bit and got back on the ship
No excursions but some great shopping without as much haggling, beautiful water!