We were given VIP status on this cruise, so it was infinitely more memorable and certainly qualifies as the best cruise we have ever taken!

Embarkation: We didn't know we were VIP - so we didn't skip the line, but embarkation was handled efficiently and quickly. We were on the ship within 20 minutes of arriving at the terminal.

Once we got on the ship, we ate lunch in the main dining room, and enjoyed a quiet meal with superb service. We then went to find our cabin. We chose a balcony cabin on deck 9, so that there would be nothing above or below us except cabins. 9047 was a very nice port side balcony. As we were walking down the hall toward our cabin, our cabin steward, Arnell, greeted us by name - and we had never met him!! He must have somehow looked up our pictures taken at embarkation? We found that our Concierge also recognized us, and called us by name without having met us! That kind of service is usually only found on the luxury lines! Inside our cabin, we found a plate of small sandwiches from the captain - and we were treated to something every afternoon: chocolate covered strawberries, smoked salmon and caviar, chocolate truffles, etc. Truly extraordinary!! We also got to eat breakfast and lunch every day in the specialty restaurant, and found the service to be remarkably caring, efficient, unobtrusive - it is difficult to find enough exclamatory words to describe how we were treated by all the staff and crew - from Tariq Fazal, Brian Wilson, and other directors like the cruise director Richard, to our concierge Leah Rodriguez, our cabin steward, wait staff, group event coordinator, etc. Everyone seemed honestly invested in making our cruise the vacation of a lifetime! I work days, my husband works nights, so even though we have been married 43 years, we NEEDED this time together, and we were blessed to have that. Read more