I am seasoned cruiser, Platinum on one and have been on three other lines and this is the first cruise on Royal Caribbean. The ship is large, but not too large that you cannot find your way around easily. I chose this cruise for 2 reasons...it had ports I had not visited and Costco travel offered a good price. The ship was clean and tastefully appointed with a high end feel to the decor. I booked an inside, virtual balcony. Other cruise lines allow you to bring on a case of soft drinks, this one does not. If you want Cokes, you will need to purchase a Coke sticker, which they put onto your sea pass card. You will need to show this at the restaurants and bars for drinks, the cost for this is around $9-10 per day. It has many dining options to choose from, the Windjammer being the buffet on the 11th deck.

The buffet for breakfast is a disorganized mess for several reasons....on the first station are eggs, breakfast meats cold cuts, then onto second for bagels and toast, and onto the third is hash browns; this is a little bit of a walk around and by the time you get to your seat, everything is cold. People do not form a line, they just cut in, whenever, to get what item they need. Unless you have someone cook the eggs, the scrambled ones are not very good and the bacon is crumbles and greasy. The lunch selection is average, I was a little put off by the pre made hamburgers floating in a pan of boiling water to keep warm! The room service is to be avoided...there is a charge of $7.95, plus you need to tip the delivery person. I ordered the philly cheese steak, and it was not edible; the "meat" was grey and sparse in a very dry roll, with dried cheese and mayo! Horrible! Wings had a freezer burn flavor and the were boiled/baked and tough. The cheesecake was dry and the chocolate cake was just average.

The main dining room was beautifully decorated and they had very good service; the food was presented well and most items were prepared well, some were not. If you are not happy with your entree, they will bring you something else. Like most cruise lines, the coffee is very strong and a bitter. If you want specialty coffee, you need to go to the coffee bar...you will pay between 4-6 dollars there for a custom cup. This can total up fast if you like several cups a day! They really push you about filling out the survey and giving them high marks. Several types of workers do not get a day off unless they get so many positive comments on these surveys. It is a nice ship, they really need to adjust the dining a bit.