My husband and I traveled to Ft. Lauderdale the evening before the cruise was to begin. We stayed in the Ramada; the room was decent enough for the night. Sunday morning we took a cab to Port Everglades where we were told by the baggage handler that if we wanted to see our bags again we should tip him. Ha ha, he said. We didn't find it amusing at all. The holding area was typical of many except that the restrooms were outside and you had to reenter through security if you needed to use the facilities. Noon arrived soon enough and we were quickly given our cruise cards and happily boarded the ship. We were in a balcony room on the Baja deck (11). I noticed immediately that the closet was in the hall adjacent to the bathroom and not in the hallway with the door. This really helped with negotiating the room with two adults dressing. The room itself was as expected but was seriously lacking in drawers. I am not one to pile my clothes on shelves but I did and my clothes paid the price. Our safe wasn't working but someone from security came right away to replace the batteries. We gave up on the safe because it started blinking on and off during the second sea day. I will agree with the comments regarding the lack of privacy on the balconies below us. Not only is it uncomfortable for them but for us as well. We felt awkward standing on our balcony while anyone was out because they were completely open. I couldn't understand why a simply canopy covering couldn't have been installed. Our room steward was pleasant but I'll finish up with that later. We made our reservations for dinner right after we saw our room. We were waitlisted and didn't want to risk standing in line for dinner. We booked the Palm's for the three nights and Sterling's for the 4th of July. Oddly, we were only able to make reservations through Wednesday. I hated the idea of having something to "worry" about doing come Wednesday. We headed for the Horizon buffet and began to feel the impending doom. The food was terrible. There were times walking through the buffet that we found nothing we wanted to eat. The food was bland, the coffee (unless you paid $1.00 for each cup of the better stuff) was worse. Ice ran out constantly and the crew resorted to putting out plastic bins of ice with the scooper in it and ice melting all around it. Restaurants are written up for the very same infraction. We traveled with 5 other family members and hoped for better luck once we were at sea. The 7 of us set out for the pool. If there is one comment I can make for my (and I think I can speak for the family as well) experience it's this. I have never, ever on a cruise felt so hustled. We were asked for drinks so many times within a ten minute period EVERY DAY that we stopped looking up from the table. My brother in law asked for water once and the waiter visibly sighed and then never brought it. I had a bartender roll her eyes at me because I couldn't hear her over the unduly loud pool band. (Who slaughtered some beloved tunes I may add). My mother in law had a waiter tell her to go back to the ship on Princess Cays because she asked that no one ask us if we wanted drinks. (This is after 6 days of endless, constant, conversation interrupting requests). I am all for service but this was nuts. The highlight of our trip, aside from one another, was Sterlings. The waiters were attentive and the food was delicious. We should have eaten there every day. I can't really mention the Palm's and Coral because they were as bland (in decor and food) as the Horizon Buffet. We were also shocked not to have the "free" ice cream all day. It was $3.75 for monster sundaes. The entertainment in the theater was not great and the theater itself was unremarkable. The comedians were entertaining. The outdoor movies were enjoyable as well. I went to the spa for a massage and pedicure and enjoyed both. The services were professional and the spa itself was very nice. I highly encourage anyone to go. We enjoyed the casino but I was put out because in a 10 minute period of playing video poker I was interrupted 3 times. I was merely playing $20.00 while my husband played black jack. I mean honestly COME ON. I wasn't looking around, I hadn't fallen out the stool, and I wasn't waving my arms madly. I'm not sure why every three minutes a crew member came to my space. Overall we found that the staff was crabby. There were many that weren't but those snotty eye rollers will ruin a nice day if you let them. In conversation one day we asked our steward if the room and board was included in the salary. She said that they were paid and solely lived off of the tips automatically charged to everyone. She said if we asked the desk they had to tell us the truth. We asked, it wasn't true. The ports of call were fine enough. We usually opt to rent cars and do our own thing in port. In St. Martin we rented a Jeep and went to Orient Beach. Nice enough with water sports and rentals. (Bring plenty of cash!) St. Thomas was marvelous, with shopping and Magen's Bay. Beautiful beach and a great bar and food area. Princess Cays was alright. It felt like a fabricated spot put there to fill a void and nothing more. For disembarking we elected to walk off. Per instructions we enrolled early, received our tags and made our way to deck 5. The paperwork clearly says to have the papers in hand in order to leave but nothing was checked. Customs was easy and taxis awaited us. This was our fifth cruise and definitely the worst by such a margin that I was compelled to write about it. We have used this site often to research and have scoffed at the negative reviews thinking the people expected too much or just couldn't have fun. Now here I am writing. Our family had fun but there were so many things that took away from the experience it's difficult to forget it. When my mother in law would prefer to eat room service because it tastes better and her dinner server is rude something isn't right.