Embarkation - Got to the ship via hotel transfer offered for $15.00 per person (Hilton Garden Inn - airport). Arrived, checked in, received color code and waited in chairs. The cruise lines need to implement some kind of sound amplification system, could not hear announcements at all. The colors, as well, were very close in shade and people were confusing magenta with pink, etc - was VERY mixed up and noisy with people asking each other "what was that color", "is this magenta" and so on. Would be very helpful to have basic colors such as red, green, orange, purple, yellow, and so on. Other than that, embarkation was uneventful and once on the ship, no problems.
We were travelling with 3 kids (2-7yr olds and 1-4 yr old) and my mother, 65. Had 2 balcony staterooms which were roomy enough and nicely decorated. Had no problem with storage, even with all those people. The only thing I didn't like was the gaudy duvet cover, although I see the necessity for it, but it cheapened the overall decor.
We dined all over the place, but decided that we prefer the traditional dining and the exquisite service and treatment provided there, after this experience. Ate often at the buffets, due to the children, but did not like that the buffet area was cut to half the normal size of other ships, due to the "freestyle" dining venues, of which there were many. Was difficult to find a table most of the time. The adults went 2 nights to the Japanese style restaurant one night with no complaints, but the next night my mother and I were almost completely ignored in an empty restaurant, due to a table of loud and obviously repeat diners who must have tipped lavishly on a previous occasion. Even when told that we wanted to be somewhere within an hour and a half, the service was embarrassingly absent and we missed out on our appointment because we were so late. We are also generous tippers, but with 2 of us, I guess the total was not worth it for the waiter.