BOARDING -- Due to a medical emergency enroute to New York, the ship was 4 hours late arriving. While we had to wait hours to board, you had to feel sorry for the passengers getting off the ship who missed their flights or other connections. After finally boarding around 5 p.m., we made reservations for table 5 in our favorite first night restaurant Salsa where we could dine overlooking the Atrium to the familiar music of Anna Y Los Vientos. It was good to be back.

STAFF -- We always felt the greatest asset of this beautiful ship was its staff. From the Hotel Manager Klauss to our excellent cabin stewards Melaini and Victor, we received royal treatment. Our Concierge Ruth from Austria was always available and very helpful. The Executive Chef Norbert from Germany satisfied our every culinary desire. The dining room personnel were uniformly courteous and efficient and we were particularly impressed with the many young ladies from Romania who spoke English flawlessly and served with flair and friendliness. We appreciated the dance instructors Roman and Svetlana and the dance hosts Bob & David. Jenni, the cruise and port consultant was most helpful in providing information on ports and future bookings. The management team of this ship should take a bow for the stellar performance of their staff.

DINING -- We had breakfast every morning at table 1 in the elegant Venetian dining room where the service and food were outstanding with special mention for Dimitri and many waitresses from Romania, and Virginia from the Philippines. We often had lunch in the Venetian where the menu was especially good on sea days. At dinner we always gravitated to Impressions where we expertly served by a cadre of young ladies named Simona, Elena, Gionina, Luminata, Ramona and Alice whom we affectionately dubbed our Romanian All-Stars, ably supervised by Edgar from Honduras. Dining in Impressions was a delight. Of the specialty restaurants, we enjoyed Salsa, La Trottoria and Bamboo, ably supervised by Mustafa from Turkey. The dining at all locations was superb and we had no complaints about any of them. We rarely ate in the Garden Cafe as it was often crowded and chaotic. The pool side barbecues were very good as was the Bavarian Brunch served with oom-pah music by the Dawn House band near the Bimini Bar on Deck 14. Read more