We arrived at the pier around 2:30 and were on the ship at 3. There was a decent, approximately 20 minute line to check in.

It has been a decade since I have been on a Fantasy Class ship and I felt they were starting to show their age 10 years ago. The Funship 2.0 upgrade definitely made a world of difference. Walking around the ship, you would never know that this ship was 20 years old. Everything was updated and modern, with lots of flat screen TV's. The ship does look old from the outside, due to the lack of balcony cabins.

Anytime dining worked great for us. We were able to get a table for 2 whenever we wanted with no wait. We ate once at 5:45 (right when the dining room opened), once at 7:00 and once at 8:00. The service the first night was decidedly gruff. No welcome smile or using our name. The service the first night was definitely bare minimum. The next night, we had a fantastic waiter (Kostadinka) who was so awesome we requested her again the next night. Neither of us were crazy about the new "American Table" menus. We felt like they were difficult to read and there were a fewer number of options. On most cruises, there are usually 2 or 3 entrees that appeal to me. On this cruise, there was usually only 1 entree per night that sounded good. One night, none of the entrees sounded good to my wife so she just ordered 4 appetizers. Besides the new menus lacking choice, everything we ordered was excellent. I feel like one benefit to cruising on a "smaller" ship is that the food is just a notch better. Read more