I would rate this cruise very highly. The ship is beautiful and the staff worked like an efficient team. Ours was a balcony stateroom, and a bit larger than the inside stateroom we booked for our kids. The public areas are well maintained, with enough variety to keep us entertained for the whole week. We used the ice rink, the pools and the gym, and all of them were high quality. The ice rink is small, but adequate, and they played good skating music. I did my running on the track on level 12 and it was good enough, though pretty windy. We really liked the gym. There are plenty of machines, free towels, a water fountain, and fantastic views. It was always in use when we went, but never too crowded. There is a library where you could sprawl on comfy leather couches and chairs for a good read, a business center, and a large internet center. It costs $.50 per minute to do your email.

There were plenty of lounge chairs by the pool, but we could never find any vacant ones, due to the overabundance of chair hogs. I got into it with them on one occasion, but after that I just didn't bother. I took a chair when no one was there, sunbathed for an hour, then put their towel back. They never knew.

Overall the food was good, but I honestly eat better at home, though there is the cleanup to deal with at home. The kids were thrilled, however. There were two soft serve ice cream stations and kids were walking around eating ice cream at all hours. The girls were big on room service, too. A couple of nights while we went out they spent the evening in our bigger cabin with a movie, getting a late snack delivered. We usually ate dinner in the dining room, a beautiful three level Russian themed extravaganza. Our wait staff was efficient, but a little too eager to please. It was obvious they had their minds on the end of cruise tip. However, they were very good and we tipped accordingly. The buffet was busy, but the food was good. Read more