I had booked the cruise rather last minute (2 weeks before sailing) as it was a good price. Then I read some of the reviews that others had posted and wondered what I'd gotten myself into.

First of all, those who are repeat cruises will notice that some of the layout of the ship is awkward. For example, if you choose "Your Time Dining" you have to go up to deck 5 to check in, then down to deck 3 to eat. Also, if you don't time it right, you could have a while to wait in between when you check in and actually get to eat. This is especially true on Formal nights. My advice--go early! I generally ate early and didn't have to wait to get a table, but when I came out the Ocean Plaza was packed with people holding buzzers and waiting for their turn. Another example of the awkwardness is that the main show theater doubles as the nightclub.

After I got used to the way the ship was laid out, however, I grew to like it better than other ships I have been on. There were plenty of bars of various sorts, and there was always a nice quiet place to read and drink in the Library Bar. The Red Frog Pub also was generally a quieter place, but it also had live music, and free foosball, darts, dominoes, and table shuffleboard to play. The best thing about the Red Frog Pub though was the nightly pub trivia. The winning team won either a 101 oz tower of beer or a fishbowl of a cocktail! Read more