I had booked this trip in Feb 2014 for 6 of us in two cabins. We were beyond excited to sail on this brand new smart ship! About a week before we sailed I had read the reviews and that's where our concerns set in. However, we hoped for a better outcome.

We drove from Connecticut to Bayonne and trying to drop off luggage and park was difficult. There was no organization and many drivers appeared confused so the line of traffic was insane, and this was at 11am. We had checked in online, photos and all. All of our paperwork (passports, id's, set sail passes were in order) however it took about an hour and a half once we were all in the terminal until we were on the ship, and we only had one family in line in front of us. Their tablets/computers weren't reading some of the passports. Our check in person walked away from her station and didn't return for quite some time (20 minutes at least) with no explanation. We had moved to another line during that time.

Access to our cabin wasn't allowed until 1pm a note on a door stated; about 1:20 we finally got in. The cabin keys were left by everyone's door except for our other cabin (we had 4 in one cabin, 2 in the other). My husband and I had a balcony cabin which was great but the mini bar was completely empty and remained that way for 2 solid days even though we made requests several times. Our kids had an interior cabin with the virtual balcony. Most of the time it was out of focus, obstructed or off completely. Our room attendant was barely ever around. Once he left our kids cabin door opened after he was finished tending to it. Read more