I needed something to do with my adult autistic college student son so how about a cruise as we've never done that before. I have to admit, cruising was not on my bucket list but a number of people said do it. It sounded too restrictive for me.
I arrived almost early and joined the check-in herd. It was an expected wait. Since my son was autistic, I had checked special needs. That produced absolutely no benefit and repeated delays as each check point required special procedures. I wish I had known I would not be able to get in the cabin until later and get a swim suit from my bags until much later. The TV reception was so poor, I would have to go through presentations twice to find out what they said. The life boat exercise seemed to be a time for the white suited crew members to show an antagonistic attitude toward both passengers and lower ranking crew.
Since my son is autistic, I had hoped for socializing at the dinner table. They don't open the assigned dining even 1 second early so being ready for my assigned dining on time meant another wait in line. I expected a large open table with other guests but was assigned a 4 place booth. The two other people showed up 30 minutes late the first time, 45 minutes late the second time and didn't show at all the third time. So much for socializing. The booth was next to the walkway from the galley so it was an endless stream of staff squeezing past our little booth. No, it did not have a window. The food choices were limited, arrived a bit cold and the staff never asked us if we wanted anything to drink so it was water only. The dinners so many people had recommended were dismal so we chose the buffet after those first three experiences. If I had known in advance, I would not have suffered the first three.
The cabin was in a convient location and was very well cleaned but the TV reception made getting timely information difficult and the remote control barely worked.