One of the "perks" of running a travel club is all of the great opportunities I am exposed to when it comes to travel.  In February, I decided to join one of the trips some of the club members were taking... a cruise on Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Sea.  

We sailied out of San Juan Puerto Rico and since the weather can be iffy up north for departures, all gathered in San Juan the night before the cruise.  We chose a hotel that I consider a "sleepover" hotel.  Neat, clean and convenient... but not for more than one night!  we were a block from the beach and amid a group of pricey designer shops, but the best part was the craft show/ music venue in the park in front of the ocean.  How lucky were we that it was the night before our cruise!  Built in entertainment!

My group decided to take a walk along the boulevard and head towards Old San Juan.  We had no intention of walking that far... just curious to see what was around.  We made our way to the Hilton Caribe to hang out in the lounge and see what that resort had to offer.  If you are not interested in a terriffic beach, this is a great property.,  Open air lobby, comfortable lounge, and a beautifully landscaped pool and outdoor area were definately a plus.  On the downside, there is currently a lot of construction in the area.  When that is finished, the entire end of the property will be stunning!

Adventure of the Seas is a lovely ship that offers many activities on baord.  As many in the group were first time cruisers, they had a blast trying out everything from the rock climbing wall to the ice skating rink... to the deck chairs and wait service! (Thinking martini here!)  Ports of call were also nice since you could choose to either try a shore excursion or wander in town to do some shopping or people watching.  Since our itinerary included Aruba, Curacao, St. Thomas and St. Maarten, we had a lot of European flavor on the trip... in February... complete with sunshine!

While some of the group prefered to hang out on board the ship, others had a lot of fun trying to redeem as many "shopping bargains" as possible and collecting all of the charms that are given away on the islands.  It was so much fun that several of them have already made plans to do it again February 20, 2009.  If you want to join us... email me and come along!  New ship... new itinerary... same boat load of fun!