I always like to read up on my vacation before I set out and I tend to get somewhat wistful reading so many differing views. I must say after reading the negative views on this site I prepared myself for whatever obstacle presented itself. Thank God I never ran into any!

We arrived at the port prepared for long lines and difficulty, there were no problems whatsoever! It was totally seamless. We filled out our paperwork, got our room keys, arranged passage from the ship to the hotel, had our picture taken, made our dinner reservation and boarded the ship. As you have read many people commented on the age of the ship and for the most part they were accurate. Now you must understand this was my first cruise so I have nothing to compare it to, but even I could see that this ship could use some updating. But if you are like me cosmetics mean little to my ability to have a wonderful time.

Our room was small but completely adequate for sleeping which is mostly what you do in your room when you are on vacation, is it not? After we settled in we wandered the ship from one end to the other and because I had read reviews I knew what to expect. We had lunch in the Rio, buffet style. We got there right before they ended the buffet so we didn't get the best fare but we didn't leave hungry! We finished eating around 4:45 then back in our cabin realized we had made our dinner reservations for 6:45 and decided we had better change that, we did with no problems whatsoever. Everyone was friendly, helpful and very respectful. There were smiles from every staff member we encountered. We had everything we needed right at our fingertips. One thing I read from a very helpful review was that if you were taking this cruise because of the timeshare dealio then skip the part where they tell you to go to the Ramada or wherever to get your boarding passes, she said she chickened out but I am here to tell you we skipped that part and not one person ever asked about it! We loved every minute of our trip! Read more