We (wife & 2 teenage daughters) sailed the eastern route 6/2-6/9 and had a very good time. We had adjoining cove cabins (2318 & 2314) and really enjoyed being close to the water. We've only been on one other cruise (Carnival Legend / upper balcony) and thus only have that to compare it against.

In my not so humble opinion, the cove balcony is the way to go. Besides being less expensive than other balcony's it's only one flight of stairs up to MDR or one down to walk way off the ship. The rooms we had were mid-ship and had little or no movement. I walked all around our floor and could not find the "smell" so many talk about.

The food in the MDR was good (not great). We ate one night in the steak house and it was very good! We also enjoyed the pasta bar, the Mongolian wok & Lanai BBQ (only open on sea days). We found the burgers, steak & pork tacos at the BBQ to be very good! Read more