Background: This was our 3rd cruise. 1st with RCCL and it is our new favorite. We hated Princess and were happy with NCL. We're an average mid 30's couple from New England
EMBARKATION:
We took a cruise-chartered Bus from 2 hours away. It was well worth the expense as has been our experience. No stress driving through NYC and trying to find (and pay for) parking. No worry about traffic, especially due to the Pats/Giants game happening right when and where our ship was boarding.
interior stateroom, as basic as it can get. Our steward, Francis, was the best we've ever had. An Indian lad- great guy. He was nice enough to bring wine glasses and a corkscrew for the wine we brought on board. We had about 4 towel animals which the wife adores.The TV offerings are very light. Only a few stations and then a bunch of ship stations. The shower wasn't as small as people make it out to be. However, the water seems to cycle hot and cool back and forth which is really annoying. Other people mentioned the same on our cruise.Other reviews mentioned raw sewage smell. We didn't notice it other than the last night when the ship was rocking very heavily. Perhaps that's the cause. Either way, it wasn't that bad.There was plenty of storage space and we did make use of the safe. The fridge was pretty small, so we didn't even try to stash anything in it. The room was fairly quiet other than the slamming of doors. It's DARK in the interior. A nightlight might have been nice. Deck 8 is ideally between the popular decks 5 and 11. Honestly, we haven't missed having a balcony at all.