First of all we will begin with a few positive things. Embarkation was a dream come true. Walked right through! The ship itself is nice enough. Not any nicer, in my opinion, than any of the 6 Royal Caribbean ships or the 5 Carnival ships I have been on, and not any worse. The cabin, however, was nicer. Closet was much bigger in its own little hallway and open from floor to ceiling which gave you MUCH more room. There also seemed to be more room to put your clothes away. The room itself seemed to be larger.

We had another couple who traveled with us and this was their first cruise and they had no problem with anything the entire cruise. However, they had nothing to compare this cruise with in the past. So everyone needs to keep that in mind while reading this posting.

The food was completely edible. I have always had the problem in the past of trying to narrow it down to 2 or 3 appetizers to order so that I don't appear to be a total "pig" at dinner. That was not a problem on this cruise. Luckily for me, the shrimp cocktail was "always available" and became my standard appetizer. The waiters were good about just putting about 20 shrimp on one plate and serving it to me that way. The dinner selection was basically the same way. There was a slim selection of entrees to chooses from. I had the same steak 4 nights. One night, I had no entree, which was on the evening when they had the lobster. This is the first cruise I have returned from where I have not had to go on a diet when I got home. I only gained one pound instead of the normal 7! There were no midnight buffets...none of those grand displays of all the carved chocolates and vegetables into cute little critters. Read more