We booked this cruise with 10 other adults ranging in ages sailing from Bayonne, NJ on 5/14/16. The cruise sailed to Bermuda for one overnight and we stopped one day in Boston midway through the week. We left from Bayonne and other than waiting in a 45minute line of traffic from the entrance of the port to the parking lot, embarkation was smooth and quick. This boat is just not worth the hype. Unfortunately, the efforts they put into upgrading technology and trying to "wow" customers have meant that food and entertainment fall significantly by the wayside. The food on this boat is terrible. We chose the Dynamic Dining package and ate in three of the four complimentary restaurants (Chic, Silk and American Icon Grill). The menus were always relatively the same and there is very little choice. Basically, you have a menu of prime rib, cheap cut of steak, chicken (although both times I tried to order the waiter advised against it) and lamb chops every night. The appetizers are essentially the same every night no matter the restaurant, chilled shrimp, french onion soup, and a salad. We ate breakfast every morning in the Windjammer and despite looking as though a lot is offered, there is again very little choice. The quality of the food is poor and food trays were often empty. At least three times I had to go searching for plates because the plates were not restocked. I was disappointed that all restaurants close by 9pm and after 9pm the only two food options are Sorrento's pizza or Cafe Promenade which offers a small selection pre-made sandwiches and wraps that they will microwave for you. I was also surprised that there also seems to be no shame in offering microwaved items. In Cafe270, we literally waited in a line of 20 people in order to pick a pre made wrap (I was told I couldn't ask for no cheese or no sauce because it is pre-made) from the menu and watch the woman microwave it for you. We ate at three specialty restaurants during the week. Jamie Oliver's Italian offered a small menu but the food was good. Izumi was by far our favorite and their sushi was surprisingly fresh and flavorful. Well worth paying the a la carte prices for ($10 appetizers and $10-$13 sushi rolls). Michael's Pub also offered a small menu but the appetizers we tried from there were delicious. We weren't able to secure reservations to Chops Grille which was booked solid for the rest of the cruise by Wednesday.

That brings me to my second issue with this cruise...you basically have to reserve everything but nobody tells you that. When I am on vacation, I like to go with the flow and see where my day takes me and see which live music venue I stumble into in the evenings, but that is just not possible on this boat. Dinner needs to be reserved nightly, and as we learned the hard way, if you want to eat in a speciality restaurant you better have made all of your dinner reservations by the first night of the cruise otherwise you'll be eating dinner at 5:45pm (which happened to us a few times) or you won't get into that restaurant at all (which also happened to us). Despite having a restaurant reservation, when you eat at the four complimentary restaurants, you wait in a line of 15-20 people at the hostess desk in order to give your name and inform them of your reservation. This cruise also offers at least three shows (Spectre's Cabaret, We Will Rock You, and The Gift) but you need to reserve those ahead of time or wait in the "will call" line which I observed was approximately 35 people long a half hour prior to the show starting. In addition, you are not given any information about these shows, or what they are about. I still don't know what Spectre is, and only learned about We Will Rock You from a fellow passenger who saw it. I was hoping to "reserve" that show for day 4 of the cruise, but apparently it was already gone from the ship. We made reservations to see The Gift on Day 6 because by Day 4 Spectre's Cabaret was booked solid for the rest of the cruise. I couldn't figure out anywhere what The Gift was about. I looked on the cruise compass for a summary, on the television, and asked two employees. No one knew and there was no information. I was also disappointed by the entertainment on the cruise, especially during our "At Sea" days. Because our ship sailed to Boston, it was basically too cold to be outside at the pool after Tuesday so we spent the rest of the cruise inside. Other than trivia offered multiple times a day and various sales offered there just wasn't much going on. At night there is a lot of live entertainment offered which I was happy about but a few of the performers require you get there early (really early) if you want to get a seat. We got the last seat at Matt Yee's performance and we showed up 45 minutes early! On Day 6 of the cruise we went to see Matt Yee again simply because there wasn't anything else going on in the evening. We also showed up to The Quest about a half hour early and literally got two of the last four seats in the entire venue. People had pulled up chairs from other public areas and were sitting on the stairs. Matt Yee and the Aerosmith cover band were both really great, but they play multiple times during the week so we got kind of tired of seeing the same acts. All of the entertainers and live musicians are awesome and very talented.

For the most part, the service throughout our trip was good. The bartenders in Michael's Pub are great and they are very attentive. Same with Boleros. Service was slow both at the pool bars and in the Music Hall. We were always better off just walking up to the bar to get drinks because the servers just weren't coming around. In the complimentary restaurants the servers really push you to complete the feedback cards to give your opinion of the restaurant. Read more