Never having cruised, I did not know what to expect. I really wanted to do the Eastern Caribbean, but our traveling companions had the week of April 13th off, so we had to do the Western Caribbean. We have an 8 year old, and our friends have an 11 and 14 year old. We had connecting staterooms with veranda. Due to booking late, we were assigned the late seating. Some nights it was tough for the kids as we did not get out of there until 10:00 or so, but we were able to see the earlier shows and not be rushed on excursions. First, I have to say, the staterooms were fantastic. My husband is 6' 9" so we were very concerned. He did have to be careful in the hallways due to the lights and sprinklers, but other than that, he was completely comfortable. Bed was extremely comfy, the space was so well planned that they utilized every in of space available. Loved the split bathroom. No complaints at all about the room. None actually about the ship at all except that most times we sat on our balcony we were treated to a nice breeze of cigarette smoke from one of our neighbors. It really sucks to be sailing in the beautiful ocean air only to have it ruined by a cancer stick! I called the front desk to find out what the smoking policy was and sadly found out that it was acceptable. I asked her to pass on the info that I thought it would be nice if in the future they could consider designating one side of the ship as non smoking. They did actually haver a manager call us to follow up on this suggestion (not that I think it will change). As many others have noted, the service on the ship is top notch, the ship is beautiful and well maintained, and they are constantly cleaning. My hands have never been so clean! Our servers were Zsolt and Budi.....Zsolt was awesome, and always gave us some tidbits about the next days shows or excursions. Very personable. These folks work extremely hard. They work 7 days a week for 4 - 6 months. Most do not see their families for 6 months. And they always were pleasant and helpful. The head server was Roberto, also really helpful when we requested some dining changes for time slots. Our hostess was Beauty, who kept our rooms sparkling clean. Like that they service the rooms twice a day. No need to call for clean towels. These folks were a pleasure, and we always felt well cared for. Nice people. Lastly, my son also ended up with an ear infection by the end of the week (he had something brewing before we left for the cruise) and I was very pleased with the on board doctor - Dr. Johan. He was great with kids and with the parents.

The only negatives I noticed on the ship:

1) Day one, they were hawking water delivered to your room 24 bottles for $35, noting that if you bought 24 it was like getting 4 for free. We did not end up using 40% of them! We really only needed them on the days we went off ship. I would suggest buying them as you need them. Read more