I will begin by saying that I am a female in my 30s and this was my first time cruising, therefore, I do not have anything to compare this trip with. I live in New York so departing from a NYC port was very attractive. We chose to take a train to Grand Central and then a taxi to the Pier. While managing all the bags was a bit cumbersome, the trip to the Pier was pretty effortless. We arrived at about 12:30 pm, right before the rain started. Lines had already begun to form, but I will say that Embarkation was quick and painless. All the Pier employees seemed very friendly and helpful. We were on the ship by about 1:30 pm. We could not go to our cabin until after 2:00, so we decided to eat lunch and chose Windows.

At first, I was a little nervous about the food, because the Italian cannelloni with spinach I ordered at lunch was basically inedible, however, my friends meal was very good and so were the appetizers and salads. This was really the only problem I had with the food, as I will discuss later, so my concerns were thwarted. After lunch, we went to our cabin and found our bags were already in front of the door. We had been quoted a price for a BF cabin but when our tickets arrived we were granted a category BC Balcony Cabin on the 10th floor, mid-ship.

The cabin was very nice and roomier than I expected. It contained a coffee maker (that we never used due to 24 hour room service), as well as, a small couch, desk and end table. The bathroom was larger than most hotel rooms and the shower pressure and temperature was excellent (and this is something I am fussy about). The balcony was large enough to hold a small lounge chair, deck chair and table. It was perfect for enjoying our room service breakfast every morning. The baked goods, muffins, fruit and especially the croissants served at breakfast were absolutely delicious. The room service sandwiches on the all day menu, however, were not that great. Although it was considered the kids menu, at one point we ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and a PB&J. The grilled cheese was cold and not really melted. The peanut butter and jelly was spread so thin that I couldnt even distinguish the two items apart and it could have easily been called a bread sandwich. I will say that the room service was always timely, if not earlier than expected, when either ordering it on the door-card the night before or just calling in when desired. Read more