We found the ship to be one of the most beautiful ships we have ever been on. The decor and the amenities of the ship are truly magnificent. The wall of glass in the atrium, as well as the ocean view glass elevators are simply breathtaking. We also noticed that, aside from the pool deck on sea days, no place on this ship ever felt overcrowded. Great traffic flow and use of open spaces.

On the downside, the ship lacks aft stairs or elevator access for passengers. This is a shortfall in the design since anyone in the back half of the ship must go to the Centrum, causing those elevators to be constantly busy.

The major problem that we experienced on this trip was in regard to the noise in our cabin. We were located on Deck 7 (7638) balcony - mid aft. This deck is directly above most of the entertainment venues, and our cabin happened to be directly above the Schooner Bar (piano bar). While a little bit of noise does not bother me, being able to hear every word and every note of a song (I could sing along in bed) was a bit annoying. The staff did what they could and tried to lower the volume, but this is a major design flaw / insulation issue in the ship. Unless you are a major night owl and plan to be up past 2 am every night, I strongly suggest finding a different cabin. On such a port and early morning tour intensive itinerary, sleep is important, but was difficult due to the noise issue in this cabin. (Note - friends on decks 8 and 9 did NOT have noise problems - it is specific to deck 7 - or at least this portion of deck 7). Read more