We had a great time, I had only been a a CTN once and my DH never has. Embarkation was crazy with both the Gem and Jewel departing at roughly the same time, once you were through the security checkpoint, staff could have done a better job at directing Gem passengers back to check in. The check in desks were past the boarding gate, you couldn't see them at all. We arrived at the port at 11:30 and were onboard at 1, not too bad even amidst the confusion.

After boarding DH and I like to find a quiet spot to have a cocktail and wait to drop off our bags. On the way to that spot we encounter a great crew member who answered my question about making dinner reservations by dailing a phone for me - I was connected to reservations and got exactly what I wanted - Le Bistro, I found out later they hadn't even set up the reservation desk in the atrium yet, so I was one of the first to make one! We found Magnum's tucked under a stairwell one floor down and had a cocktail there. Some of the staff seemed like we were a bother but not all. Lunch in the MDR was very slow,but we had to wait to get in the cabin any way. The food at lunch was not very good and the portions were extremely small, I had a Cobb salad that was missing half of the ingredients and was swimming in dressing.

Got to our cabin obstructed view OV 8566, we were on a stretch of hall all by ourselves, it was nice and quiet. Tv was alittle odd the volume would increase all by itself! We only had it on while dressing though. We had booked Le Bistro thank goodness which turned out to be a perfect meal,the fruits de Mer and lamb chops were perfection. We had 6 o'clock reservations so we could see the show. Read more