We had seen so many negative reviews about the ship. I'm glad to say that none of the complaints were experienced by us! We drove to Galveston on Sunday, Feb. 12, and boarded the ship around 12:30 - there was a long line but it moved very quickly. Tipped off by Cruise Critic, we knew to go to deck 11 to Cucina del Capitano, the Italian restaurant, for lunch, which was free. There is a $12 charge at night. Had some very good pasta, and a DOD.
By the time we were through, our cabin was ready. This was an interior, and it seemed smaller than interiors we have had in the past on the Ecstasy, but it was fine. Met our steward, Joslyn. We went back up to deck 5 to check out things there. We were impressed with the ship, and it didn't seem too overwhelmingly big to us. Muster drill was very quiet and orderly.
We ate in the main dining room, had Izabela, Lucas and Ivan for our wait team. They were excellent every night - no wait for glasses to be filled or courses to come, food was good and hot. After dinner we checked out the casino for a little while.
Although our interior cabin was small, the bathroom seemed larger than on other ships. The location about midship was great as we didn't need to walk far to get to things, the dining room was just one floor up so we were able to take the stairs. Not much noise from the hallways. Plenty of storage space. Would have liked to have a chair instead of the stool. Overall we were pleased.