Embarkation: Smooth, on before Noon.

Food: We thought that the quality and the preparation was very good. We did each of the specialty restaurants and found Normandy & Qsine to be excellent. A little disappointed in Bistro on Five. We only ate dinner in the MDR 3 times because we did not find it to be very relaxing there -- it was very noisy and overcrowded. However, the evening buffet on this ship was far superior to the Infinity which we sailed in May for 23 days, so we ate in the buffet the other nights and enjoyed the grilled fish & meats as well as the pasta, sushi and other stations.

Entertainment: Very poor. The male singers had very good voices but the amplification in the main theatre for the production shows was so loud that we left early. The music in the bars did not meet our expectations and I cannot understand the rationale behind two guitarists and no string group -- probably the guitarists cost less & X is trying to save money. On our Infinity cruise in May, they had an excellent string group from Russia, and we were so disappointed in the quality of the entertainment on this cruise. Read more