This was my family's first cruise. Our group consisted of myself (34), my husband (34), my daughter (6), my young son (17 months), my MIL (54), and a friend of hers (~56). We had oceanview cabins 1160 and 1164 on the Riviera deck. I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised at the size of our cabin. Considering that there would be two adults and two small children in our room, we didn't feel cramped at all. There was plenty of storage space and the bathroom was a decent size. My daughter loved that the window had a little ledge that she could sit on and look out at the ocean.

After dropping off our luggage, we went up to the Lido deck and had lunch. It was a little chaotic up there but we finally found a seat. The food was pretty good, not great, but we all enjoyed what we got. I am not a huge fan of buffets, so we only ate on the Lido deck for breakfast and during sea days at lunch. We always ate in the dining room at dinner. Food in the dining room was wonderful on some nights (the lobster and the jumbo shrimp) and just okay on others (the steaks). However, dessert was always very, very good. My favorite was the crème brulee (sooo good!), the Bitter and Blanc bread pudding, and the popular chocolate melting cake. We had a table for six by the window (# 369) and our servers were Dewa ("Big D") and Iwayan. They were just awesome! One of my daughter's favorite times of the day was after dinner when we would go back to our room and see which towel animal our room steward (Joaquim) had left for her. Joaquim was great...he straightened/cleaned our room several times a day and we never wanted for ice, fresh towels, etc. He was also very accommodating when I had any requests.

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