DH and I left our home near Concord, NC very early in the morning on Saturday and arrived to Jacksonville Port around 10am. We easily parked and rolled our 2 pieces of luggage into the port (we packed light since it was only a 5 day and only the 2 of us). We had Faster to the Fun and since we were already early, we were actually the first ones there with FTTF. Staff forgot to take our pictures when we checked in, but fortunately we overheard someone mentioning it and went to take the pictures before boarding started. They boarded handicap, platinum, suites, then FTTF. Once on board we went straight to our Room E60 which was not only convenient but very clean and plus luggage was already there ready for us (FTTF). Very nice. We would certainly want E60 again, not too noisy, but very close to atrium, elevators, purser's desk, shore excursion desk, bar. Went to Shore Excursion desk immediately to specify which Cabana # we wanted at Half Moon Caye (we had previously booked Cabana but could not specify number ahead of time). We chose #7 which was near restrooms and bar; in hindsight, we should have booked #6 which remained in the shade a good bit of the day due to a big tree.

Food: Very happy to realize that they have the Mushroom/Goat Cheese pizza on this ship! I had sailed the Dream in Spring of 2013 and it was NOT available which was very disappointing. Loved the Wok, of course, it takes SO long and it would be great if they could move people through faster. Loved the Mushroom/Goat Cheese pizza which is located on Lido at the back of the ship. It's right beside the deli (Reuben sandwich is wonderful) which is located right beside a Bar. All 3 of these are indoors and situated in between two TV's showing SportsCenter or a Football game (sailed during Sept/football season). Loved this spot for lunch to cool off, but only wish you could hear the TV a little better; of course, it's vacation and I'm not there JUST to watch Football. Food in dining room was awesome, especially the Lobster this time around. Great Service, a little slow 2 nights but nothing to worry about. We did breakfast in dining room one day b/c DH wanted fresh Eggs Benedict. I on the other hand, would rather grab a quick bite and get on up to the pool area. Fortunately the Lido buffet food was almost just as good for breakfast. In the evenings, they did have a sampler taste station near the Casino one or two nights (where sushi used to be offered). Didn't sample either time and wish sushi was back instead. Did Room Service twice for breakfast and both times, food arrived as ordered and on time by super friendly guys.

Pool area: had no problem finding chairs near pool much to my surprise; it was and older cliental so maybe that was the reason? Loved the DJ sounds and really didn't experience too much chair hogging. At Serenity deck, there seemed to be chairs available too on and off and that was quite comfortable. Hot tubs at main pool seemed filled with kids and I'm surprised the parents let their kids dive and go under water in those. When I wanted hot tub, I just went to serenity area which was adult only. Pool isn't huge, but mostly you could find some room to hang. There were a lot of kids in the pool too and if they would only move a pool to the Kids Waterpark area, I think we could solve some of this issue, but again, it was not really a problem and that's likely because we sailed in the off season when most schools were in session. Read more