We had each been awarded a free cruise by our local casino when we advanced to the second tier of their player's club. We took one back in the spring and this one in November. Because the awarded cruise accommodation was an inside cabin, we upgraded to a balcony, which we felt was worth the money.
We really enjoyed our cruise. Since we had cruised with Norwegian in the spring, we felt more comfortable this time because we were more familiar with the layout of the ship. Most of our meals were very good. I was a little taken aback to find strips of peppers in my beef stroganoff, but I just moved them out of the way. We ate dinner several times in the main dining rooms and one thing we liked was the hostess would ask us if we'd be willing to share a table with other passengers. We always said yes and were never sorry--we met some very interesting people.
We didn't spend any time at the pools, we seemed to keep busy doing other things, plus the pool areas are always crowded and it's very hard to get a lounge chair.
Our cabin was very comfortable. We had a lot of storage space--we couldn't even fill it all up! There were plenty of hangers and drawer space for our clothes. The only thing that was a tad small was the shower stall, but since we've vacationed in Europe, we can cope with a small shower! The bed was very comfortable and we had no trouble falling asleep. We enjoyed having the balcony, which was furnished with 2 chairs and a small table. The location was great--not too far from an elevator, but not close enough to hear people getting on or off. Just two cabins away from us was a family with small children, but we never heard them while we were in our cabin. We actually never heard any of our neighbors, which is more than you can say for some hotels!