Well first I have to start with the fact that this was my first cruise so I really didn't have anything to compare it to. Although I have MANY friends who have cruised MANY times and I did extensive research myself prior to this cruise so I feel I was pretty much prepared. We booked this cruise a year in advance so I had PLENTY of time to research and read the reviews.

Initially the reviews I read were from the first sailings which were from the European area so I really took those reviews with a grain of salt. American ship, American experience I figured.

I have to say we had a GREAT time. There were 26 in our group and all in all we all had fun. There was one person in our group who has cruised 16 other times on many different lines and gave this cruise an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. We had another couple with us and the husband was very unimpressed with the whole experience. Although he did get sick on the trip and he doesn't have small/young children so maybe he is just looking for a whole different ship experience than what we were. Read more