This was our 6th cruise and first on Royal Caribbean on September 4th. Our previous experiences were with 4 previous trips with Holland America (HAL) (Hawaii 15nt, Alaska cruise tour and 2-Caribbean 10-11 nt) and one cruise with NCL 7nt. We were traveling with 40 others from the Outer Banks of NC and it is telling that the ship is large enough that we only occasionally saw others in the group except at dinner or in passing in the Casino.
Embarkation: A pleasure and wonderfully efficient in comparison to our first cruise in 2006 now that Norfolk has completed its cruise terminal. We went prepared with our completed Sea Pass, credit card and passport and got into the ship before noon (after arriving at 11:45) and the fastest experience we have ever had.
Travel: We arrived by bus with our group and avoided typical plane and parking issues. This started the trip on a wonderfully relaxed note from the beginning.
Plenty of drawer space but frugal closet and marginal space under bed for luggage (prepare to push it under if possible at all). Unpleasant odor but primarily localized on Deck 2 across from Room 2064