My wife really pushed for this itnerary which included passage through the Panama Canal down the west coast of South America ending in Valpariso, Chile. I agreed because of the shore excursion in Arica, Chile to the Atacama Desert and Altiplano, which sounded fantastic (we both wanted to do the Panama Canal but I really wanted to end in San Diego to avoid the marathon plane flight back home).

Boarding was delayed by disinfection for norovirus on prior cruise but Aqua Class priority boarding was smooth and well conducted. Cabin was perfectly satisfactory, clean, generally well-designed storage, everything we needed for our 15 nights fit easily. However, we definitely prefer the cabins in Solstice class ships. Great cabin attendant service throughout the cruise.

Our dining venue was Blu. Excellent food, well-prepared and well-presented! Attentive, personable, service staff made our evenings and breakfasts a pleasure. Buffet food at Oceanview Cafe was good-quality and generally well-prepared. Beverage service and table clearing in Oceanview was hit or miss, sometimes fantastic, other times no beverage service at all and slow plate clearing. The line-type service in Oceanview was sometimes congested and cumbersome compared to the "island-type" layouts of the Solstice class ships. Read more