I too have a number of cruises under my belt and I'm wondering if I ve been on the same ship as some of these reviewers, This is a great looking ship that is very well maintained, with some great public areas. The cabins are very roomy, clean and of a high stndard, bathrooms in particular, the balconies are very private (earlier this year I was on a Princess ship where this was not the case) The food is fine, no worse or better than other cruise Ive been on. Staff were vey attentive in the dinning room and noticed if a plate of food was being left and very, very quickly offered to bring something else. The dinning rooms are cramped and the buffet is indeed a bun fight; however, in my experience all buffets' are some what of a nightmare. The expereince in the buffet can be minimised by taking breakfast in the dinning room
I ve never been on a cruise where the staff had Engish as a first language; on the whole staff we're pleasent; some more than others.
I too chose this cruise for the itinerary, and luckily we had no problems with any of the ports. Didn't notice any more selling than any other cruise.