My husband and I decided to take this quick 5 day cruise to Bermuda from Bayonne, New Jersey, not only to celebrate the Fourth of July but also being "empty nesters" after we dropped off our younger daughter at UCF. We have been on 37 cruises and still counting. We encountered heavy traffic driving to New Jersey from Connecticut since this was the Saturday before the 4th of July holiday. We expected that. What was surprising was the lack of signs directing to the port. And once at the port, parking took more than 30 minutes. Extremely disorganized and confusing.
Once we were finally parked and walked over to the "Mash Unit" improvised looking tent, we encountered long lines of people still waiting for the rest of their parties and holding up the lines. Priority embarkation was non-existent. It took about 1 hour to check-in. I think this was probably the worst experience I've had after 37 cruises in terms of checking-in.
Putting that all behind, we were greeted with smiles and a beautiful ship. I can honestly say that except for the railing on the balcony that needs to be painted and the lounge chair upgraded in my cabin, I didn't really see anything wrong with the ship. It was clean and didn't smell. The crew was very attentive and service was very good in all areas. Our cabin was on the hump wich is a great central location. Nice room but the balcony is narrow and a metal wall blocks part of the view. I also don't like the way the balcony is only half glass and half metal. But I knew that and it didn't bother me.
GS 1324 - great central location on the hump. Balcony is narrow and blocked by a metal wall. Hafl glass and half metal balcony.