We joined a friends cruise for our first cruise and have to say it was an experience. We loved the service. All the staff on-board are very friendly and helpful. We got a room upgrade and ended up in a mini suite on deck 11. Although it was the same size as a small hotel room I believe it was much bigger then what we would have got with a standard room. We were below the Lido Pool Deck but didn't find the noise all bad but we also had bad weather so that kept the party goers downstairs rather then above us. We could hear people walking above us though. The room was very clean and I found the decor wasn't too dated. Plenty of room for your clothes and shower had plenty of hot water.

I found the food in the Pantry to be fine. Each night there was something new to try and plenty of options. My only complaint would be the lack of gluten free dessert options. I often went and paid for the New Zealand ice-cream. We ate at the Waterfront a couple of times and the service was excellent and food lovely.

We had the soft-drink package as part of our deal and used it frequently. Not sure if we would have bought as much. We did drink plenty of cocktails and other alcoholic beverages and spent around $400 over the 4 nights, maybe a bit more. Very easy to spend money. The on-board wi-fi worked well and with it we were able to see how much we were spending. We could also see the options for entertainment for the day and reserve seats in the restaurants if we wanted. Read more