My husband and I cruised with my mother (64) and our daughters (8 and 10). I have provided comments here on food, entertainment, children's program, the ship, our rooms, crowds and lines and excursions. This is my second cruise. My mother has been on countless cruises, it was my husband and children's first.

Food: The food was surprisingly good, and healthy options were plentiful. They weren't the blah healthy options, either. (You know the kind: "Okay, you can have the huge slab of red meat with bEarnaise sauce, or you can have this piece of overcooked white fish with a sprig of broccoli.") For example, I enjoyed (good) sushi and other asian food, cold fruit soups at dinner almost every night, GOOD fish entrees and lots of salad and fresh fruit. Don't get me wrong, I also enjoyed the desserts and some of the more indulgent entrees, but I felt like I was able to enjoy really delicious healthy meals to balance out the other choices. The girls ate off the kids menu sometimes and the adult menu other times. There were plenty of options. I will say we did better when we stayed with the simpler dishes.

I loved the coffee/pastry place on the promenade. At home, Starbucks with half-and-half is my abiding sin. On the ship they served Seattle's Best, which, while not Starbucks, is actually pretty good coffee. And I could get it any time at the little pastry place, and they had REAL half and half. One of my girls is an early riser, so she accompanied me for coffee every morning. When we missed lunch in the Windjammer, we went to Sorrento's for pizza and other Italian treats (e.g., Mozzarella, sundried tomato and pesto salad). Read more