Background: This was my seventh cruise, but first cruise in ten years. I am 28 and was traveling with my mother, grandmother, two aunts, and 18 year old cousin. We have all cruised before on several lines including Princess, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and NCL. We flew to NYC on Friday and stayed at Marriott Marquis Times Square, a fine hotel in the heart of Broadway. We made it to the port around 1:30 Saturday after a quick tour of NY. Embarkation was a breeze, we were on the ship and in our rooms by a little after 2:00.

Ship: We were all pleasantly surprised with the condition of the ship. I always noticed crew members cleaning and polishing. The only thing that seemed dirty were the windows. I never saw anyone clean them while in port and they were pretty filthy. Other than that, I thought everything was in good shape.

Stateroom: Our stateroom had plenty of room and storage. The six of us had three balcony staterooms right next to each other on the Lido deck,9242, 9238, 9234. Our room steward let us open up the partitions on the balcony so we had one long one to share. That was a lot of fun for us. We had our own private sail away parties on our balcony which helped us avoid the crowds and was easier for my 80 year old grandmother. The balcony was the highlight of my trip! I guess my only complaint as far as the stateroom goes would be the towels. They were thin and not very soft, oh well. Read more