My Review:
We are in our mid 40's and this was our 7th cruise. We arrived in New Orleans the day before. we stayed at the Hampton inn & suites in the warehouse/convention center area. This was a lovely hotel. I loved the brick old warehouse feel. They had a good breakfast buffet also. That night we had appetizers at Mulates,dinner at Dragos and after dinner beer at Gordon Biersch. The morning of the cruise we walked around the river walk mall. we hadn't gone there the night before because I had read that it was just a mall, but the food selection there looked fun and they serve drinks! I know my local mall doesn't serve daiquiris! The ship: It is a lovely ship. we were in a balcony room on the 11th floor forward, we experienced quite a lot of shaking movement. Our room was comfortable and we always enjoy the balcony. We could hear the music from the Galaxy of the Stars at night, but it didn't go late and was not a problem. I love the childrens pool, not that I used it! But I thought it seemed to be a very nice place where parents could enjoy sitting around while the kids have fun. We also enjoyed walking around the promenade deck every morning--it was very nice and not crowded. Our cabin stewards, pool bar staff and waiters were all very nice and efficient.
Food: Well the lower quality of the food that I had read about was true. The dining room had a limited and somewhat boring menu.The lobster was okay, but quite salty. The best meal we found was the stir fry on the buffet. we got the cook there to make it VERY spicy for us. We didn't eat at any of the specialty restaurants. The pool BBQ had very good chicken and pork, though they didn't have the BBQ on port days which I thought was odd. The problem with the freestyle is they had trouble planning for the larger crowds. There may have been more large groups due to spring break. For just the two of us we always got seated right away by a window in Windows. On the formal lobster night there was a big crowd of very dressed up families waiting to be seated and sitting on the stairs and they did not seem any too happy! I did not gain any weight, this may have been because of the lack luster food or the fact that we NEVER used an elevator. That is my cruise tip: take the stairs if you're able!