Please note at the outset that this is my first review after 23 cruises some of which were great and some average. I am not normally a complainer and I am not a curmudgeon. The ship is lovely, however, much is lost from there. We took the hotel package. Very expensive for the value relieved. The hotel was $159 on internet and cab fair was $25. the package was around $700. We took it as air deviation would be $300. So, we took the package and then found out it was over priced. Out of order but at the end of the cruise, the ship staff offered transport to the airport for $79 per person. We passed,how ever, At the embarkation point at the cab stand the ship offered a transport to the airport for $20 per person. Perhaps, I would have been slightly upset if I selected the earlier transport.

Staff: Were not at all interactive with passengers. Reception desk personnel were brusque and unsmiling. Efficient but not welcoming. The wait staff were again efficient but quite distant from any passenger interaction other than providing service. My sense was they were over supervised as there were always watchful supervisors present and in the Terrace Cafe I counted at least 6 supervisor. Believe staff were not comfortable in other than a quick hello and sometimes a smile due to the constant scrutiny.

Dining: On the first evening on board, we chose the Terrace Cafe which we thought would be like a typical Lido buffet. Not so. In the evening it is a lovely white table cloth restaurant with the opportunity to sit out on the aft deck. There was a large food island with all the accoutrements for dining, an island with such items as rack of lamb, pastas, upscale variety of foods well prepared and well presented. On the other side was the grill which each night featured grilled lobster tails, lamb chops, shrimp, filet etc. It was terrific. As it turned out we ate there all nights except for the specificity restaurants and the last night at the main dining room. The one meal in the main dining room was not very good and the others at our shared table agreed. My wife had the sea bass, as an example, that was inedible. Service was marginal. as we asked the waiter 3times for something and it never did arrive Read more