Background and Transportation This cruise was a gift to us, along with some onboard credit. This was our first cruise. We did get to choose which cruise we wanted, and we picked this one because we really like Portland, and so we could drive to the port instead of flying. Parking at the port would have been about $200, so we parked at a friend's to the north and took the Hudson-Bergen light rail to Bayonne, which was very easy and cheap. There is a shuttle for $3pp from 34th street station to the port.
Check-in Check-in was a breeze. The luggage handler was the only person to mention tipping on our whole vacation. There were long lines, but they moved quickly and we were processed quickly.
Stateroom We had an interior stateroom on deck 6. It's tight if you're used to hotel rooms, but it was plenty of space for our needs. We didn't get as much motion as the higher decks, and we could sleep late because no sunlight could get in. It was also very quiet. We hardly heard anything from outside the room. The bed was actually two beds pushed together with one big sheet set, which was nice because we couldn't disturb each other getting in or out in the night. The shower was also big enough, though smaller than most home showers, and we're not small people. The shower head detaches, and the water was hot with good pressure. My only stateroom complaint is that a bad smell constantly came out of the toilet, but keeping the lid down helped. Our stateroom attendant, Susan, was excellent! She helped us with whatever we needed, and was always very friendly and cheerful. Our interactive television was not fully functional. Pay per view movies were broken, and the account balance screen seemed to give us conflicting numbers one day.
Other Passengers Lots of old people. I felt like I was in a zombie movie whenever I tried to cross the promenade, surrounded by a shambling horde. The cruise director said there were 200 children on board, but we only saw maybe 20 over the whole trip. Even though there were 3200 passengers, there were rarely lines for anything. The only crowded times were the shows for early-dinner people and the one time in the Windjammer when the outdoor bar-b-cue was canceled. We hoped to find people our age to mingle with, but that was very difficult. Fortunately, nearly everyone was nice. We sat with many different older couples (My-Time Dining), and they tended to be friendly, but the conversations were usually about their grown kids and how this cruise compared to other cruises. We did eventually find a very fun older couple.
The Ship The ship was nice. We don't have other cruise ships to compare it to. Some people make comments as if it is old and decrepit, but you'd have to look hard and be picky to complain about the ship. Since this cruise was in October in the Northeast, and 85% of the passengers were over 60, we had some parts of the ship nearly to ourselves. We did some mini-golfing and rock-climbing under the sunset. We had hot tubs to ourselves; the water was great and warmed us enough that we couldn't feel the cold even when we got out. We also had the pools to ourselves, kept at 77 degrees. That was nice. It was also neat to go out on the helipad at dusk. It's easy to get around, though the Promenade can get busy and there's no other good way to get between dining and the theater than through the smokey and loud casino. Dining (you'll never be hungry) * Windjammer: We ate here most breakfasts. I liked the eggs every day, and granola with yogurt. The fruit was never ripe, and the sausages and pancakes were dry and mediocre. We only had lunch here once, and it was good. Good curries. We went once for "snack" and got bland chicken wings and a decent burger. We never had dinner here, but I went once for the sushi table. It's all cooked in sliced maki rolls, and was really good. Great deserts; I liked the rotolos.
* Johnny Rockets: We ate here once, and it was fun. Good food, and the waiters sang and danced. Unfortunately, it doesn't open until 3pm, and no one should miss the dining hall for it. We went at 3 for a late lunch.
* Dining Hall: We ate one breakfast here, but it was so slow and unimpressive that we went to the Windjammer or got room service every other morning. Lunch is great! There is a big salad bar with fresh prosciutto. The food was great, but we only got lunch here twice because it was not open every day (I think just sea days). The service at lunch was mediocre. Dinners were excellent. The menu was different every day with many fancy options. Portions were medium to large, and there was never a problem ordering as many as we wanted. Some nights we each got two starters, two entrees, and two deserts, then shared so we could try many new foods. Sadly, fish was consistently dry and overcooked. Steaks were always excellent, though. Great cold fruit soups. We were so satisfied with the dining hall that we did not see the point in going to Portofino.
* Room Service: Good for a breakfast if you know when you're going to wake up and you just want eggs, yogurt, cereal. Great burger, good salmon on rye, terrible salad. Delivery is about 30 minutes. Usually if we wanted something I just went to the Cafe Promenade.
* Cafe Promenade: We drank a lot of herbal tea. Good ham and cheese on croissants. The previous evening's deserts are usually available. No one minds if you take whatever you want back to your room.
* My Time Dining: This worked out well for us. Several nights we reserved a table for two, and others we tried eating with new people. We were able to eat at convenient times for us, and could request specific waiters and eat with people we liked (who also had My Time Dining). There is the risk of not getting the waiter you want, but we did not have much trouble.
* Bars: Variable service. Find one you like and keep going to that one. We preferred the Palace, but it was closed more often than others. Terrible beer selection and prices. Some drinks weren't too bad of a deal, especially if you find the right bartenders. Activities Eh, mostly attempts to sell stuff or get people to gamble. The trivia games were pretty boring. We did enjoy ice skating, but it had very limited availability. We went to one of the art auctions, which was a neat experience that includes free champagne. They give everyone "free" art, but it's all ugly and you pay for shipping and framing, so we turned it down. There were some tempting pieces at reasonable prices.
Service Nearly everyone was helpful and cheerful. Staff tended to go out of their way to accommodate us, and we were only told "no" once. It was very pampering. Aran and Leonardo were excellent to us, and their assistants were great. Bartenders, the help desk, anywhere on the ship. Entertainment The first comedian was pretty lame. Sarge was funnier, but we were put off by his racist jokes. The juggler was awesome! Peachoc, I think was his name. The ship's singers and dancers were good. It's not Broadway, but it was worth attending most nights. The Ice Skaters were fantastic! Definitely go to the ice skating. The lounge singers were not good. The string quartet was good. Excursions Too expensive and too early and too restrictive. We made our own plans for each port.
Disembarkation We got lucky with an early color. It was easy and fast to leave the ship. It was a strangely long wait for a shuttle to get to the light rail station, though. It looked like Archie's taxi service has a monopoly on getting people away from the port.
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