Got a good deal on a balcony room. Was with a group of 6 with 3 balcony staterooms on deck 8. Lifeboats are directly below most of the balcony rooms so there is no clear line of site to see the water, however, in 2 of the rooms, the view was still good. In room 8136 - which we paid the exact same price as the other 2 rooms - there was a huge bar that almost completely blocked the view and we had to stand on the furniture to see the water. Allow plenty of time if you go to the Black Crab dining room for supper. It took us 2 hours every night. Breakfast in the dining room is actually great and a lot better than going to the buffet. The buffet was always crowded unless late at night. Everything is spread out pretty good, however, there is not enough room for the crowds of people and it was people bumping into people.They had the same desserts every other night in the buffet. The pizza was really good as well as the hamburgers. The ship was clean, Shows were great. Just one show was boring with a lot of slow singing that about put us to sleep. The Treasure Island and Michael Jackson show - last 2 nights on board were fantastic. When they made announcements - they would be repeated in multiple languages (over 10) - such as the safety drill took a lot longer than any other cruise. Also, if you don't pay the big prices for the yacht club cabins, you are not allowed to go to the front of the ship, the only areas that you can go to is the center and a couple of places in the back. This was our 15th cruise and it was our worse.