We sailed on the Nov. 16 cruise out of Barcelona. There were 9 in our group of friends, several of whom had never cruised before.
Impressions of the ship: Sleek and sophisticated, but felt like an ultra-modern hotel rather than a ship. I didn't particularly care for the layout - the atrium felt small and crowded, the shops were spread out on two decks and never appeared to have anyone in them. The Sky Lounge had filmy curtains that hung above most of the booths. This blocked the view out to sea, which to me is the purpose of a room like this. The oceanview cafe was always SO crowded, it was extremely difficult to find a seat at lunchtime. In fact, one day we gave up and took our plates back to our room. I guess it was just too much steel, glass, and modern art for me. Beautiful to be sure, but just didn't have a warm, welcoming feel to me.
Staff: We had the best room attendants we have ever had on any ship, by far! They were Pius and Lakeram, and they were so consistently wonderful I can't say enough good things about them. MDR attendants were also very good - even the maitre d' was very helpful. The activity director must have changed with our sailing, as we had a male (Stewart) and I'd read that there was a female director on prior cruises. He was OK, not great.
Larger than normal balcony by about 3 feet in depth. Very quiet, no motion felt. Would get this cabin again in a heartbeat!