I have just returned from the 1/24/09 western Caribbean cruise. First off I had a wonderful time!!! I am a 51 year old widower and this is the first opportunity for me to take a cruise with a lot of family members. I normally cruised with my late Wife, and the last few cruises I've gone with her twin Sister as my travel companion, so this was a very different experience for me. I went with my Father, Sister and Brother-in-law, 2 Aunts and an Uncle and his wife, so I have several view points to draw on. The first thing that stood out to me was, when traveling in a group, ensure everyone knows this is THEIR cruise! Don't pressure or insist others do what someone else wants to. We quickly came to that understanding and I didn't feel pressure to try and please everyone. We all did what we wanted and never expected others to feel obligated to do likewise. We all had the same dining arraignments (after a little work when we boarded, our initial request wasn't met) we did give each other the courtesy to let someone know if we didn't plan to attend dinner that evening. With that said, let's get to the details and my observations of the experience. DINING First, I guess I should tell you my perception of the dining as this seems to be the most discussed issue of this cruise ship/line. The first issue encountered, when we booked the cruise, we had requested that our group of 8 be seated together, first seating. When we checked on board, we were given 3 different tables, in 2 restaurants, 6 of us dining late, the other 2 early. As soon as we got on board, they had someone handing out numbers in the Savannah bar to everyone who had issues with the dining arraignments, and there were more than a a few. We waited about 30 minutes for our turn, and when we got our chance the issue was resolved quickly and efficiently. The table assignment was less that premium, we ended up in the back corner right next to the kitchen door. But we did get our early seating and all together. OK now for the actual dining. If you enjoy the attentive pampering, or are the steak and potato type, you will be disappointed. Our waiter was pleasant, and improved as the week went on but you got none of the personal attention you usually get on many other lines. Part of this may be due to the dining room being understaffed. One item that disturbed me was seeing a waiter being reprimanded by a supervisor for "socializing with the guests", he was told be pleasant, do his job, and no small talk with the guests, he was a waiter, not an ambassador!!! Now I have no idea if he was spending excessive time chatting and his work suffered, but if a crew member who interacts with the guests on a daily basis isn't an ambassador for the cruise line, who is? We did have an assistant waiter, but we never saw him during most of the dinner service. He spent all his time shuttling trays between the kitchen and the staging area. He never had a chance to do much else for most of the service. He did get us our coffee after the desserts were served, speaking of coffee, my Aunt likes a cup with her meal, and that seemed to throw everything off a bit, day 1 she didn't get it until the main course, day 2 not until the rest of us got ours after dessert, day 3 after the salad, but by day 4 they had it worked it into their routine and she got it soon after being seated. They also made sure we had extra ice on the table without asking from day 3 on, along with the salted butter my Sister requested and the extra roll my other Aunt wanted. Now the food. Day one I ordered the Cajun Mahi Mahi and was extremely disappointed!!! I got a small piece of grilled fish without even a HINT of Cajun spice!!!! It was very bland and tasteless!!! The same meal I got a shrimp risotto that was very good and the melon soup was outstanding, all the chilled soups I tried were always very very good. That is the experience of the entire week for us, very hit or miss. I had a veal cordon bleu that was paper thin, with a small thin slice of prosciutto ham, very little cheese and a soggy breading, I didn't finish it, but the Talappia I had later in the week was wonderful. The fillet night we had 5 orders at our table, 2 were great and the other 3 were not. Mine cut with 2 gentle strokes, my uncle needed a chainsaw. The desserts were all in all pretty good, but don't expect it to be as you would think. For example, the last night they had chocolate meringue "pie". What you got was a small pudding cup with a chocolate pudding on top of some white creamy sweet mer ague type sauce and sprinkled with a hard meringue on top, it was good, but it didn't fit my definition of pie.The dessert selections are very limited, especially on the buffet lines, mostly just a couple types of cake and an occasional cup of jello. I never saw a piece of what we would call pie. They did also offer ice cream of the day and a sorbet, those that I tried were very good. The "always available" alternatives of sirloin steak, grilled chicken breast or salmon filet are NOT available on either of the Gala nights. For the steak and potato type the choices are very limited, if you like seafood, pasta and a variety of other items you should be able to find something to suit you. They did serve a lot of veal and lamb. Now on to the buffets. The salad bar was always top notch, the rest,again depends on your tastes. They had a pasta of the day each lunchtime that I found to be usually very good. They have a wide variety of thin sliced meats and cheeses, plenty of seafood and past salads. At most cruise buffets I have a hard time not wanting to take everything on the line, here I had a hard time choosing what to take. All that said I still feel the buffets were adequate and you could find something to suit your tastes. The staff working them were hit and miss, one staff member would jump to help my elderly Aunt find a table and make sure she had everything she wanted each day (this is hear-say from my aunt, we usually didn't eat lunch together) but I did see another staff member standing by the drink station, when informed they were out of glasses, he told my brother in law to use a coffee cup for his juice and he did nothing to correct the problem. (when we left about 15 minutes later, still no glasses and only a couple cups left and he was still standing in the same spot!) As for the specialty restaurants, I never got the opportunity to give them a try. A friend of mine, who's opinion I deeply trust, did try the four seasons. She had nothing but great things to say about it. The food was head and shoulders above the main dining room and the service was a show in itself! With the exceptional food and service, she would be willing to pay several times more than the $25 a head and still feel she got a bargain!!!! On her recommendation I tried to make a reservation, only to find they were booked for the remainder of the cruise!!! I guess that tells you how exceptional food, service and the word of mouth worked for them!! If you want to enjoy this exquisite dining experience on your cruise, book early and book often!!!! With all that said, I never went hungry even if I didn't like everything offered, I always found something acceptable to eat. All things considered I don't think it matched up to other lines I've been on, but it was adequate. If the staff's attitude and efforts were more geared to pleasing the guests, it would go along way to improving the perception of the guests. All in all in my opinion the dining needs some attention, it was a disappointment but not a deal breaker! STATEROOM My Father and I had a balcony stateroom on deck 12 forward. The room was well decorated and functional. it was a bit smaller than some, but not to the point of being excessively cramped. You have a good amount of storage and suitcases are easily stashed under the beds. When we first arrived they had the beds together as a queen bed, one request to our steward and when we returned after dinner they were split into twins, the ice bucket was full and everything was done. Our steward was on top of things all week and greeted us each time we saw him and asked to make sure we had all we needed. Unlike the dining staff, he took time to talk with us and get to know us, I guess his boss DOES think he is an ambassador!! ENTERTAINMENT AND ACTIVITIES This was by far the highlight of this cruise for me!!! The main showroom is stunning! My only complaint is the railings in the balcony are a bit high and if you sit back they tend to obstruct your view a bit, but hey, listen to your Mother and SIT UP STRAIGHT and it's not a big issue!!! They don't put on the standard Vegas style show, it's more a European style theatre show with nice choreography, dance and acrobatics all blended very nicely. If you go to the first night, I found it to be very good and very entertaining. It had a good blend of dance, song and acrobatics. I left that show feeling very good about what was to come. I wasn't disappointed, the following shows were every bit as good and some even better. The second night's Circusland show was even more stunning!!! I didn't attend each night (I kind of wish I did) but every show was wonderful!!! I really found the two acrobats doing the ribbon routine during the Celtic show exceptional. If you are a fan of the stage shows, you will find these to be some of the best at sea, in my opinion. The lounges are another highlight of this ship. All the lounges had entertainment all night from about 5 PM till 1 AM, even when the entertainers were on break they kept you entertained. The Savannah was the dance bar with dance music, I didn't spend a lot of time there myself, but it was always packed and the noise and excitement often drifted up into thee casino!!! The Shaker lounge also had dance music most nights and also some karaoke, the guest talent show and other types of entertainment. The main atrium area had the classical quartet that covered the purple, L'incontro and Zaffiro bars. They also did have a poolside dance party that I didn't attend but I heard nothing but rave reviews from everyone who was there!!!! The wine bar was one area that was overlooked by most of the guests, it was a really nice spot with a very good piano player, I guess being a wine bar that only served wine, most guests didn't stay and enjoy it. I did spend some time there several nights, when I needed a drink I'd sneak back to the Shaker bar, get my drink and return. I really felt bad for the piano player, he played many nights to an empty or near empty room, and he was too talented for that. Now for my personal favorite, the Amber bar, this is a nice quiet piano type bar with very good entertainment. Edo was a solo piano player/singer who was very good and they also had the duo of Fabrizio and Ivana that I really enjoyed. This bar did have a small smoking section off to one side, but the ventilation system did it's job and it didn't offend others in the main, non smoking area. It did however make the ship's logo shop patrons walk through the smoking area to get to the shop: bad planning there. I have read on other reviews negative comments about the staff members from Bulgaria, if they ever had the pleasure of being served by one young Bulgarian cocktail waitress named Maria, their opinion would change I am sure!!! Maria has a bubbly personality and infectious smile!!! She rarely stood at the bar as some of the other girls did, she walked around spinning her tray and making sure empty tables were cleared and cleaned, and kept herself accessible to those who needed it. She was always offering to take pictures for the guests. She was always available, without being intrusive. If there was one cruise staff member that made me feel welcome and gave me exceptional service, Maria would get that honor hands down!!! Now the casino. I did spend a little time there, welllllllll, OK maybe a lot. My opinion is that it is a little small for the number of passengers they carry. There were a few things that bothered me about the way they operate. First they allowed a passenger to play multiple hands at the black jack table when they had several players waiting for a seat, that would be fine if they didn't have players waiting, but the pit boss let the complaints fall on deaf ears. They wouldn't open the craps table until late most nights for some unknown reason, every time it was open it was packed. Same with roulette, 4 roulette tables and a majority of the time they had all 4 closed, I never saw more than 2 ever open. The Texas hold-em table didn't open till around 10 each night, you could buy in for $50, but the blinds were $5/$10, so if you didn't buy in for 4-500 bucks you were dead money. I only budget so much for the casino each night, and a $1/$2 table would be much more inviting for the majority of the guests. They could have had a full table all night long, instead they chose to have 4-5 players begging passers by to join in. I also found out they will not cash travelers checks at the casino cage, never encountered that on any other cruise line. You can only cash them at the accounting office which is only open 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the early evening (4-7), not to mention they charge you 3% to cash them!!! I waited till Grand Cayman and the RBC charged me 89 cents to cash 3 travelers checks, a far cry from the 3% the ship would have charged!!!! They are a lot of changes they could make to maximize their casino bottom line, but they seem indifferent to those suggestions. It doesn't make a lot of sense to let easy money walk out the door, but they had no problem with it. The amount of money I see novice craps and roulette players loose on cruises always amazes me, not to capitalize on that is puzzling. I also noted they only had 5 penny slots, I don't play slots bu they always had a large group fighting for the seats, while 12 line quarter machines stayed empty all night. Keep more people in the casino and you'll make more money, seems to me that should be the way to go. The rest of the entertainment I can't comment much on. The poolside never had the crazy hairy chest or sexy leg type contests. What I saw was very mundane and generic. They had no marriage show or other types of very funny but less classy type of shows or contests. The pool was always crowded and if you want a chair get there very early, as I noticed going to breakfast, most chairs were claimed long before the pool even opened. As the pool goes, I was disappointed that the pools and hot tubs closed at 6:30. No romantic drinks in the hot tub under the stars, of course I was alone on this cruise so it wasn't an issue, but when my Wife and I did our cruises, we'd spend several nights kicked back in the hot tubs under the stars with some rum based drink special, enjoying each others company!! PORTS For the most part there aren't many ports here that are that special. Key West, the conch republic, with it's usual special flare, nothing most cruisers haven't seen before. Cozumel, we booked a day pass to the all inclusive Windham resort. Good food, good drinks, poor beach. All shell and coral for sand, rocks everywhere in the water. The pools were cold and so-so. The food was good, but nothing great. At least we had an open bar and took advantage of that. If I had known, I would have skipped the resort and gone to Mr. Sancho's and do the pay as you go route. Of course on the way back to the ship we did hit Carlos and Charlie's, can anyone stop there and not have fun? After that my Sister and I went shopping, if your going to shop for the standard items, Cozumel is the best. On to Grand Cayman, I didn't do a lot here, I've been to stingray city, which is a really unique experience but I need to do the rum point and snorkel trip, maybe next time. I did buy my duty free liquor there, in port my bottle of Jim Beam was $9.50, on board it was $12.95. I recommend this, it was a simple process, they deliver to the ship and it's delivered to your stateroom they last night. The last stop was Cayo Laventado in the Dominican Republic. I wasn't sure what to expect for this stop, but it was great!!! The beach is beautiful and all seemed to be having a great time!!! Negotiate with the vendors, you can usually cut the first price by at least 50%. I found a nice tree on the grassy hillside overlooking the rocks and surf and did absolutely nothing for hours and enjoyed every minute of it!!! SUMMARY A cruise is what you make it. This ship, as with all others, has it's pluses and minuses, but it's up to you to make the most of it. I feel they need do to improve the dining. Overall the ship is beautiful and they are always cleaning something, even polishing the brass hinges on the doors. I found the entertainment to be very good and the shows outstanding. The staterooms were nice and functional, not the biggest but comfortable and well above average. Embarkation and disembarkation both went very smooth. Do I regret going? No. Would I sail them again? Probably not, unless they improve the dining, that's one area I always look forward to if they do then yes. I'll be watching the reviews to see if they continue to improve. Right now I feel there is better value for my cruise dollars out there. Would i recommend it to others? It depends on what they are looking for, if they have kids and want real value, then this ship with their kids free offer gives them that value. I'll just make sure they are aware of the dining issue. I wouldn't tell anyone they shouldn't go, just tell them what I've said here and let them decide. Overall I had a great cruise, the weather was super and I got to spend some quality time with family I don't see often enough.