Took my first cruise ever and it was aboard the MS Eurodam. I was part of the National Review group so part of the cruise was attending seminars/sessions, as well as dining with guest speakers, night owl sessions, informal gatherings in the Crow's Nest and so on. I found that National Review part very informative, as well as the fact of being able to socialize with the speakers a real plus(Mark Steyn was fantastic).
I reserved a oceanview with private verandah and was very impressed. The bed was comfortable and for me, being a big person, the cabin had plenty of room. The TV carried Fox News, always a plus in my book.
Dining? A mixed bag in my opinion. The main dining room offered prime rib the first night and it was excellent. Most of the diners raved about it. It was a disappointment that it was not offered again the rest of the cruise. I found the service to be very good and they were always right there when you needed something. The food was good, but the portions on a lot of the nights was very small. Again I attribute that to being a big person and just used to having bigger portions. The lido was hit and miss. I thought breakfast was good for the most part but they do need to do a better job with the eggs. Scrambled in my opinion means well done, NOT runny. The last night of the cruise they had duck a la orange on the buffet and that was quite good. One big complaint though? The coffee. Needs significant improvement in my opinion and that was echoed by many of my fellow cruisers.