We are a family of five who have all cruised several times, on NCL, RC and CC. We really like the freestyle dining which is one of the reasons we chose this sailing. We also avoided the super, overinflated airline prices during spring vacation by traveling from a port we could drive to. We actually rented a bus with several families we met on Cruise Critic on our roll call and that turned out to be a great thing. Everyone was fun and it was nice having so many familiar faces on board. We arrived about 11am, luggage was immediately taken by the porters and then through check in quickly, even though we only had birth certificates. We were sitting in the Venetian Dining room by noon, after wandering the ship a bit. The lunch menu does not change, but there was quite a variety to choose from, from hanburgers, salads, fish, chicken, etc. Service was very attentive.

The ship is beautiful and we never noticed any repairs going on, or disrepair anywhere, but we did not go looking for it either. The only crowded place was the pool area on sea days, and because this was spring vacation, there were lots of kids everywhere, includind three of my own :) I liked that the gift shop was at the back of the ship and you didn't have to go through it all the time, less temptation. The casino had a separate entrance, although when you passed by it, the smoke smell was strong. The ship's layout is good, but it helped to have a kid with us to get us to the right place...their sense of direction is much better. Within a couple of days, it was easy to find where you wanted to go.

We had two inside cabins on deck 11. If I could do it again I would have gone lower because we hit some rough seas on the return home and we were rocking quite a bit. We like inside cabins because they are always dark, especially if you want to nap during the day. We heard no outside noises, the shower was great, the room tastefully decorated and the beds were very,very comfy. There was plenty of storage, but I would suggest bringing a power strip as there was only one plug at the vanity area. We left the bathroom light on at night We asked for everything to be taken out of our refrigerator and it was. Unlike all our other cruises, we never met our cabin steward (usually they are there to greet you by name), nor did she seem to go the extra mile. We did get towel animals but we had to ask for ice and towels several times. She never really went all out in cleaning the room. Friends had a different steward and had a different experience. Only on the last night did had we wished we brought duct tape because the drawers kept opening and closing with the ship rocking. Read more