Disclaimer: The first part of this is going to sound overly critical. I’m not a critical person and none of the things mentioned in this first section could ever cause me to have a bad cruise. They’re just simple observations and minor annoyances that paled in comparison to all the great things about this trip.

After the Triumph’s misfortune earlier this year, I thought for sure this ship would be in tip-top condition. I was wrong. As wonderful as our room steward (Lawrence) was during this trip, it looked like some things in our room had been untouched for quite some time. The TV area was really dusty; I’m talking layers upon layers. With two couples in our room, we had to adjust the bed situation a bit. We kept finding candy wrappers, dirty plates, and dirty knives under furniture. That’s fine. Gross. But fine. Because why should they move furniture to clean under it in the few hours between debarkation and embarkation? However, there were also candy wrappers that could be seen before moving furniture around. It just seemed kind of sloppy. I have a feeling Lawrence wasn’t responsible for the condition our room was in prior to our arrival, as he was very thorough in his cleaning.

Other than the room, there were several spots around the ship that needed attention, such as missing or scratched paint, areas that looked like something had been broken, missing light covers, and the infamous sewage smell. The sewage smell wasn’t permanent or even all that noticeable. It was more like a "whiff” every other day or so, that would go away as quickly as it came. Read more