As a diamond member with Royal Caribbean, I was concerned no other cruise line could live up to my past experiences. Boy was I wrong. The ambience of the ship is a sleek elegance. It is very modern with dark woods and solid colors. My first reaction was "it's beautiful"

Embarkation was a breeze. Look out for a Daily guide and ship map at check-in. We missed it and spent the first few hours wandering aimlessly until we made it to guest relations to get a set. After that, they provide one in your cabin each day, I think they should have one in your stateroom on day 1 also (hint..the hotel manager said he reads these entries on cruise critic..I hope so!)

We loved the food and variety of choices. At first I felt put off that so many options cost extra. However, the two main dining rooms, Irish pub and buffet were awesome. Taste was a nice, quiet place to eat. Manhattan had an incredible, spontaneous show during dinner. The Irish pub was a great place to eat casual food. The buffet had 8 different types of hard scoop ice cream every day. If you like Benihana, check out Teppanyaki. They offer a lunch option during sea days for half the price. We loved the freestyle option to eat or see a show when we wanted as opposed to a designated time or night. A warning to the avid Coca-cola drinker..they only serve Pepsi. Luckily I caught that in another review, and brought my own soda (you can bring as much non-alcoholic beverage onboard was you want, free of charge.) Just make sure it is sealed; we lost an open bottle of Gatorade at security. Read more