This ship & itinerary chosen based on departure city (Bayonne) and time of year. While we have 2 ships departing from Baltimore (Royal Caribbean & Carnival) we wanted to experience this newer ship and the amenities it provided. If this is your 1st cruise you may have been either delighted or turned off. Having been on more than 30 cruises with at least 7 different cruise lines, we were disappointed. Food: Windjammer food was bland, boring with limited variety. Main dining room: service was excellent, food portions have been cut dramatically. One used to leave the dining room boasting how FULL you were...now once finished you're looking for Sorrento's asap for pizza. Soup cups were only 50% filled, salad plates were also only 1/2 full. Limited variety of vegetables, no corn, peas, string beans, etc. Desserts were also skimpy. Level of taste for all foods, unless dining in specialty restaurants was mass produced ala McDonalds. Chops (steak restaurant) as always was excellent. JAMIE's food was great however we sat at a table for 2, so small that we could not even place our bottle of wine on the table. No wider than 18" x 18". This was NOT a café or coffee shop but the tables would lead one to think so.

Pools: 3 pools areas: 2 enclosed, 1 open. ALWAYS full. While ship notes it will not tolerate saving chairs and/or will remove towels if no one occupies said for more 30 minutes, it was NOT enforced. I will compliment Solarium crew for NOT allowing children into the area. Life guards in 2 of the 3 pool areas were required to stand bare footed in the pool at all times even when temps were quite cold. They will not save lives sooner if they are standing inside the pool. LET THEM HAVE THEIR SHOES!

Entertainment: The GIFT was not a gift at all. It was a terrible presentation and the lead singer SCREAMED thru most of her songs. You could not understand one word. On the other hand---same group of actors-singers---WE WILL ROCK YOU--did! Tremendous presentation. If you can reserve it twice--do so. Read more