It's been a fifth cruise for me and my wife, on a fourth cruise line. The overall impression was positive, especially considering value for the money. But there were some annoying glitches that do not allow me to rate it at the top. Embarkation process was a disaster, the line winded from about 500 feet OUTSIDE the terminal, all the way to the ship. We've spent 2.5 hours from the time we arrived at the pier, to the time we stepped on board. Many passengers we've spoken to confirmed that this was their worst embarkation ever. Considering that this was lunch time, I advise future passengers to take some food / beverages with them. We were very grateful that the duty free liquor store in the terminal was having a liqueur - tasting event that cheered us up. The ship is new, well-designed, decently sized cabins are comfortable. There was something wrong with elevators: they were extremely slow. After waiting for two-three minutes some passengers lost patience and walked up or down. As a result call buttons remained presses, and the elevators stopped at almost every floor, making the ride even slower. It was a major disappointment, especially since this was a new ship, and it was so big (19 decks). For younger passengers this provided an extra opportunity to exercise, but for older passengers this should have been a major problem.

Breakfast and lunch were very decent - three buffet restaurants had a very good selection of tasty food. One annoying thing was the absence of free beverages except coffee and iced tea. Juice was served only at breakfast, in tiny glasses. As a result many passengers had to take 4-5 of them, so there was always a shortage at the stand. There was plenty of juice in bars, but for sale. Dining was probably the best experience on the cruise. Fixed-time dining was unavailable at the time of our booking, so were were signed for the "free dining". Having experienced it on Norwegian cruise, we were a little concerned. However, during the first dinner we were offered to reserve a table at the same time for the remainder of our cruise. So we were served by the same team of waiters, and did not have to wait for a table. Those who did not make reservations, had to wait with beepers like in a popular shopping mall restaurant on Friday night. The waiting staff was EXTREMELY professional and courteous. The food was very good. This was perhaps the best dining that we've had on all our cruises. We have taken two snorkeling tours that were OK, but overpriced for the service provided. The first boat (Sea Cow on Bonnaire) did not have a restroom and we were told "boys to the left, girls to the right". The second boat had two restrooms, but both were not working and overflowing with smelly stuff. In conclusion, and with the above caveats, this was a good cruise, and we would recommend it to our friends.