This was the second time for me sailing on this ship since 2008 - this time with my boyfriend, and it was his first time. We are a young couple in our late 20's. We were notified around 6pm the night before departure that due to Hurricane Gonzalo, we would not be sailing to Bermuda, but instead to Halifax, Nova Scotia and St. John, New Brunswick. WHAT?! I was about to start my work shift when I heard the news, so I had to repack everything once I got home at 4am.
We arrived to the port at the suggested time for our deck, 1pm - and the car line was insane. We waited in a very long line to drop off our luggage and then park in the lot ($100 for five days). They handed everyone a letter explaining the change in course - because apparently some people were never notified! Not sure whose fault that is. The port was under construction, but besides the lines, everything seemed to go smoothly.
We immediately booked our new excursions in Canada and found that we would be refunded for our Bermuda excursions, and we received a $350 credit. Everyone received different credit amounts, so I'm not sure how that was all figured out. We were up on the deck as the ship departed (an hour late). Most of the deck chairs were stacked up - albeit the weather wasn't the warmest, but it just wasn't very welcoming!
We had a room with a balcony. I was very happy with our room. We were mid ship (less rocky) by the library and near elevators. Lots of storage and comfortable sitting area. Even though it was mostly chilly, I don't regret the balcony. It was less chilly than sitting up on the deck. I couldn't hear too much noise from our neighboring rooms. I heard some shutting of drawers and things, and in the bathroom you can hear the other toilets near you flush, but other than that I couldn't hear a thing. Our stateroom was always made up when we came back to our rooms, and our attendant was friendly. The TV sucked. We were in our room sometimes (when there were no activities that caught our eye and since we couldn't really sit out on the deck...) and most of the channels were spanish. Almost all. If they were in english, they had spanish subtitles. It didn't ruin my day or anything, but it was odd to me. Good shower water pressure!