We flew to Miami the day before and stayed at a hotel near the port. We arrived at the port on Friday at 11:30 and went immediately through the line and were escorted to the concierge lounge since we had booked a suite. It was fairly crowded in the room but shortly groups were escorted off and we were on the ship before noon. As I had previously read in Cruise Critic, I went straight to Mambo's on Deck 8 and made all our reservations for the week. We subsequently changed our minds about a couple of choices and the concierge changed those to what we wanted with no hassles. We then went to lunch at Summer Palace and then went and explored the ship.

The ship was truly beautiful but we felt there was something lost by not having either the Promenade as in Royal Caribbean or large atriums in other ships. The ship as a whole was very clean and nicely decorated. Our suite was smaller than we expected. There was very limited drawer space which was a problem. The closet was large with lots of hangers and was accessible from two sides which helped when my husband and I were trying to dress at the same time. The bathroom was very roomy and the tub and shower head were great. The bed and bedding were very comfortable. We had a forward cabin and our balcony opened to the front of the ship. We loved it!! It was very large (to us) and had two padded lounge chairs and a table and one regular chair. I spent many hours laying in the sun and reading on that balcony. We had a terrific view.

Another great thing about this ship was the fitness center. We try to work out while we are on vacation to balance out the gluttony. There were numerous treadmills and elliptical trainers with individual tv screens. There were also plenty of weight equipment. I did not participate in any of the classes so I can't comment about them. We also paid $90 for the entire cruise to use the thermal suite. We enjoyed that as well. We were entitled to use the Thelossatherapy pool, various whirlpools, steam room, sauna and heated tile loungers. It was quite peaceful and worth the extra money. We did not do any other spa treatments but the usual array were offered. Our stateroom attendants were excellent everything was always done timely and to perfection! Read more