Background: New, late 50's retirees. First time cruisers; decided for full immersion, transatlantic cruise.

PreCruise: Stayed in a very nice Hampden Inn in center of Miami. Made the adventure of flying to Ft. Lauderdale (much cheaper), then shuttle to triRail station, train to Metro Xfer stop and metro to 1 block from hotel (2 hour trip for $4 bucks total). Quick walk to hotel and it was very upscale. Inexpensive Taxi to ship next day. No problem getting on ship, pretty quick check-in.

Cabin: Balcony cabin was roomier than I expected; balcony was a little wasted on transatlantic; several days were very windy. I expected to use it for breakfast, but didn't. Was nice to view the world floating by, but oceanview would have been fine. Shower is small, but workable. Cabin steward made up room twice a day and we never noticed him; he was great. Read more