Keep in mind - this was my first cruise. So, I have no frame of reference and nothing to compare it to. But, I have to say - it was amazing. The ship is beautiful, the level of service we received was fabulous. In the entire week, I encountered only one employee who was surly. And, I was almost always pleasantly surprised by the level of friendliness that we encountered from each employee - from store clerks to bartenders to cabin stewards - they all smiled and said hello and made eye contact.

Now - I've heard a lot of complaints about the food in the MDR. While I'm not a gourmet, I enjoyed almost all the dishes we had. Some were fabulous, and some were just OK. In fact, the much lauded onion tart was not amazing. But, it was fine. On the other hand, the filet of beef was tender and delicious! I found the potion sizes perfect. They appeared small, but really they were exactly right. As a rather light eater, I was able to finish everything on my plate. And isn't that the point? To eat everything that you want and not waste food? After all, had I wanted more food after eating that first plate, the waiter would have brought me more! But, I didn't. An appetizer, main course, and dessert were a perfect amount of food.I traveled with my 13 year old son. I do feel that the teen club was poorly run. My son enjoyed himself, but the stories he told about what went on in the club made me very concerned. There were multiple games of "Truth or Dare' which had the teens being pantsed, kissing strangers, and discussing sexual exploits. I also understand that there might have been some drug use. Yes, I know that these were activities NOT sanctioned by the ship, but neither were they monitored or refereed by the teen club employees. I really feel that there should have been more oversight there.

There was so much to do on the ship that there was almost no need to disembark at the ports. But, we did. Well, we did at the first two, not the third. We had a great time at the zip line in Haiti and at Dunns River Falls in Jamaica. It should be noted that the Dunns Falls climb is actually rather difficult to do. The pictures I had seen made it all seem rather tame, but it's not. I would have fallen several times, had the man next to me in line not saved me. Don't expect a touristy, safe experience here. It's enjoyable, but much more difficult than I had expected. Read more