Prior to this cruise, I'd been on 23 cruises on ships ranging from 1200 passengers to 3000. Knowing this ship holds 6000 passengers, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from a crowd perspective. Check-in at the port was easy. Once on the ship, however, I was very overwhelmed. First things first, we had a very difficult time locating our cabin (turns out we were on the opposite side of the ship and could not get to the other side, easily). Our routine upon boarding is getting to the main buffet, but when we saw the line of people waiting, we immediately changed our minds and found somewhere else to eat. My concerns about crowds was getting confirmed. But by the next day, the crowds seemed to be under control, we could easily find our cabin and all was good. Only once in a while could we feel the "pains" of large crowds.

Pre-sailing: Personally, I did not like having to pay for and plan all of my week's activities prior to the trip. A lot of what I like about cruising is deciding spur of the moment what I want to do. But they strongly recommended making reservations for all the shows and dining, so we did so. And I could see why you need to do that. For one night without a show reservation, we waited in the stand-by line and did not get in.

Dining: Read more