For us, embarkation was quick and smooth. We arrived rather late (about 3pm) at the port and had no problems boarding the ship. The ship is very nice, clean, and the staff was very friendly and courteous the entire trip.

This was our first time for freestyle cruising. It has pros and cons. You can't just go to dinner whenever and wherever you choose. If you don't plan ahead for the whole week, you cannot get reservations in the specialty restaurants.

The menu in Tsar's Palace was fairly good the first few nights, but after that was very mediocre. We did have the opportunity to eat at Tango's (the Mexican/Latin cuisine) two nights and at Cagney's (Steakhouse) on our last evening of the cruise. We really liked the food in both of these specialty restaurants. Read more