BACKGROUND: My husband and I are in our early 40’s with no kids. I have cruised once before – 20+ years ago to Alaska with Holland America, and my husband has never cruised. I’ve been around northern Europe quite a bit; he had never been out of the US. We are very active, so we enjoyed that this cruise was in port almost every day. We walked and walked and walked! We joined my parents in Copenhagen for the Baltic cruise – they had been on the trans-Atlantic as well.

Cabin – our cabin was great – small but that’s to be expected. Storage was adequate, and I’m glad I knew from Cruise Critic to bring lots of magnets! I especially found magnetic hooks to be helpful for hanging robes, jackets, scarves, etc. It was nice to have a balcony and maybe on a warm weather cruise we would have used it a lot more. We were on the Lido deck and found it to be a great location. The stairs were not an issue for us. I can see where a true promenade deck would be nice and perhaps we’ll experience that next time. But honestly this cruise was so chilly that we didn’t use outside areas much at all. My parents were on Emerald deck, and I remember my mother commenting that they could sometimes hear the bass booming from Club 6 above them.

Dining – I had prepared myself for a food extravaganza, but really nothing “wowed” me. The variety is impressive in the buffet, but the food itself was mostly disappointing. The pastries are absolutely beautiful to look at, and while I know for a fact that everything is made from scratch onboard (we did the ship tour and saw that they even make the croissants from scratch!), it all seems a bit stale by the time it makes it to the display case. There were a few excellent items, but unfortunately the one thing I LOVED was served only one day (the pavlova). The breakfasts in the HC had an institutional taste. My husband referred to the HC as the “dining hall” and that is actually the vibe it gave – a high end college dorm dining hall, but a dining hall nonetheless. I guess that’s all well and good for a buffet, but the dining room (anytime dining) food was a bit disappointing as well. Not horrible, but not special as the menu and website photos would have you believe. I ordered pad thai one night and the pasta was severely undercooked. There was a mushroom appetizer that did impress me, but everything else was mediocre. Read more