This was our 7th cruise and my husband's favorite.First thing I would be sure to do, is read the daily freestyle while you are waiting to board the ship. It is very informative as to what there is to do before the ship even leaves port. It even has a map of the ship. Boarding is so smooth and easy, you wait your turn sitting in a waiting room, not standing in long lines. We went straight to Taste restaurant and had a nice sit down lunch. The buffet is open too, but we prefer the dining rooms. As we decided to go to our room on the 14th floor, the doors opened right into the Spa. We had booked a balcony room that included the spa entry for the entire cruise. Great choice. So, before going to our room, we toured the spa. Even if you don't have the spa included, you just might want to tour the spa, and maybe decide to pay for use anyway. We went almost everyday and it was never crowded, and so relaxing.

I mentioned Taste, but Manhattan has the same menu and is open for dinner and we liked the ambiance there better.Food was good there. The first night is lobster night. It came with steak, I chose to forgo the steak and had 2 lobster tails instead, I thoroughly enjoyed it. My husband's steak was overdone an he couldn't eat it. So he had another lobster tail too. As we ate there a few times, we never had a bad meal again, in fact the food just got better each time we ate there. We did pay for a few specialty restaurants and Teppanyaki was well worth the money, better than any restaurant of it's kind we've ever been to. The chef was so talented and funny and the food was fantastic. We ate at Cagney's and my filet was to die for. My husband's rib eye was not as good, but was cooked the way he requested, just to much fat ribbed in it.For fast easy dining we did try the buffet, nice variety. We went to O'Sheenan's for in between meals and snacks, quick and easy, the food not great, but nice. I don't know if I should tell about Cirque as an entertainment venue or restaurant, it was good as both. They serve steak and shrimp and the food was delicious. If you book this I would suggest paying the extra for the premium seats, we didn't and wish we had. You miss some of the high flying acts, because you are in the back under the balcony, but it was fun anyway. The buffet was great for breakfast, but we also ordered a continental breakfast from room service so we could sleep in one day.

We did everything possible for entertainment. Best advice is to book everything you can prior to your cruise. You can book up to 45 days in advance and I am so glad we did. The lines to book shows were long, and many of the shows require reservations. We did everything from Blueman Group to Howl at the Moon, trivia to shuffleboard, Family Feud to Bingo, and danced a bit too. Blueman is weird, they do silly stuff, but kept me laughing most of the time. Legends in Concert had 3 singers. Steven Tyler was great, looked like him, sang like him, moved like him, just fantastic. I was surprised to believe Katy Perry was considered a legend, but I guess they needed something for the younger crowd. Elvis sang great, but didn't quite get the hip movements down. Overall we really enjoyed the show. We don't drink, so we avoided the bars, but we did see Howl at the Moon in Headliners. Two piano players and a drummer that take requests, (they do the ones with money attached to the request first.) They are very fun. They joke, they play great and they can sing anything. As the show goes on, the audience gets rowdier, so we left after about an hour, but I say don't miss therm. They play at least 3 nights, so be sure to pick one and see them. Second City does a few different shows. We saw their Mystery Luncheon and their improve. They weren't the best Second City troupe we've ever seen, but they were entertaining. Read more