This was our first cruise, chosen because Royal Caribbean have a good reputation for family-friendly ships and because it fitted specific date requirements. We are a family of four (children aged 9 and 7). We live in Hampshire so found it very easy and quick to arrive at the dock in Southampton, which was well signposted. Embarkation was easy, although we had to queue at check-in for 10 minutes or so. We went straight to the Windjammer for lunch with our hand luggage, and then out onto deck.

We had interconnecting promenade cabins on deck 6, which were perfect, apart from a very high level of "white noise" at night, it sounded as though there was a dishwasher running close by. Our stateroom attendant Bruce was very friendly and helpful. The children loved the towel animals and we enjoyed going to the demonstration of how to make them on the last day. We settled in quickly and found it very easy to get our bearings around the ship as the signage at the elevators was very clear.

Food - we had breakfast in the Windjammer every day and lunch there when we weren't in port, we were very impressed with the selection of food, friendliness of staff and lack of queues even at busy times. Evening meals were taken in the Mozart room on My Time, we didn't pre-book for the first day and would have had to wait 45 mins for a table so used the WJ that evening, but otherwise no problems. We also used the WJ for the 2nd and 3rd formal evenings to avoid having to dress up. The waiting staff in the Mozart were helpful, friendly and attentive, we had the same team every time. One of my few grumbles was the children's menu - the same every night and limited to much lower quality food than the adults menu, the children ended up eating off the adults menu instead quite often. We also ate in Portofino once and were impressed by the quality of the food. Read more