My husband and I booked this cruise while on the Anthem of the Seas. I love new ships!! However, I have concluded that, although size doesn't matter to me, the number of people does matter. We were told that there were 6,500 passengers and 3,000 crew members. Although the HOS is a beautiful, large ship, it seemed to me that the venues are rather small, especially for the number of passengers. Lines were long! The worst was in the Windjammer, where there weren't enough tables! One day I had a plate of food (only a slice of pizza, some pasta, and an orange), and I wasn't able to find a place to sit! I kindly handed my full plate to the waiter, and walked out. My husband, following behind me, had no clue what I was doing, but needless to say, he followed me, like any good husband would do!

Don't get me wrong. There are some marvelous features on this ship. The Central Park neighborhood is unique, but you get wet when it rains, and so, you might go into the nice specialty restaurants looking a little bit "under the weather"! Don't let the Ultimate Abyss slide scare you; it's fun, as is the short zipline. The cabins are fairly spacious, especially the bowed design of the shower. The Rising Tide Bar and the Biionic Bar are really neat!

The food and service were good, especially in the specialty restaurants. The coffee was awful! The desserts were yummy! Nightly entertainment was good, except for the Columbus show. Not many activities during the day, but the talks by the astronaut were great and humorous!