All Aboard!

As our ship steamed out of San Juan harbour, this beautiful old Spanish style church was set against the Caribbean background.

In our inside stateroom, modestly priced, we were met by this lovely king-size bed, a comfortable loveseat facing the tv, a desk, plenty of cupboard space and a pristine bathroom--small but well designed with places to put all our things and more.

We sailed on Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas, a beautifully appointed ship, for our first cruising adventure. We met our cruising mates--my sister's family--and headed for the 11th floor cafeteria style dining hall. This lovely array of carved watermelons met us at the entrance. Wonderful!

Of course cruises are mostly about eating so the next picture is my sister and my husband at the dinner table in the evening. We had full service there and every night's menu was an adventure with lots of choice. The fruit soups were spectacular.

Across the table Chris and Mark patiently posed for their aunt's camera. Great young men, they are!

Brian and I are the photographers so they put us together to get a picture of us. At the last moment he planted a big smooch on my surprised cheek. Fun, fun, fun.

We went to bed around 10:30 that first night and with no windows and no clock didn't wake up till 8 a.m. Amazing. Next post I'll talk about the island stops.