Embarkation was painless, literally 20 minutes from walking into the terminal, checking out my cabin, and eating a shrimp sandwich at Cafe Promenade. Unfortunately that was the only good thing I ate there, as I found their pastries old-tasting. The ship is enormous but not big enough to accommodate the 4000+ and I was never able to find a lounge chair by the pool.

Although there were numerous signs forbidding the reserving of lounge chairs, by 8 am every single one was covered with a towel even though the pool deck was still empty. One couple told me they wait 30 minutes and if no one shows up, they simply take the seats and tell the annoyed people (when they finally show up) that there were no towels on the chairs when they got there. So maybe I need to try that next time. The Windjammer food was edible but so boring, and I saw people take food with their hands, eat it, lick their fingers, and take more which is GROSS! But there was always somewhere to go and something to do if you could contend with the crowds. I waited 30 minutes in the sun to ride Flowrider and once was enough but I'm glad I tried it. First time the Captain's Toast did NOT include champagne for the passengers! Is this another cost-cutting move? On the plus size, my cabin attendant, Peter, was excellent, and a Windjammer attendant named Allan was very helpful and friendly.