We anxiously set said out of Port Everglades on December 30th 2012. This was a highly anticipated trip for the entire family as we had a couple of celebrations planned. Plus, it was going to be our third year in a row spent out at sea with Royal Caribbean. Eight glorious nights were awaiting us.

As we left port following a convoy of other cruise ships, we hit the Atlantic Ocean. Mother nature was a little intense the first couple of nights. We are experienced cruisers and the wife had her trusted patch on. She was still a little queasy as were a number of other guests. All of the meals were typical Royal Caribbean meals. If you've been on one ship, then you've eaten the food. This doesn't bother me, but, the wife is a little more harder to please. It's not that the food is bad, it's just the same thing each year. Like I said, it doesn't stop me from ordering a couple of these and a couple of those. The food is good, not great. We don't believe in eating in the pay for service restaurants when there is food for free at every corner.

Before embarking on the ship I had read how the ship looked tired or wasn't well maintained. I can honestly say that I didn't come across any of that. There were crew members cleaning all over the ship and were quite visible. The crew was very insistent on sanitizing (Purell dispensers) and handing out wipes. At first it was a whee bit alarming. There were no outbreaks that we know about and after awhile, we found it refreshing. Read more