EMBARKATION - Cruise on Aug 24th. We had a group of (5)families,(4)leaving from Central NJ and one family meeting us from S.I. NY. 16 of us were picked up in NJ at about 9:00 arrived at the pier about 10:15. The ship was disembarking the passengers from the previous week so there was a large crowd of people. Once at the pier we required two porters and caught them as they were escorting disembarking passengers. Once inside the terminal there was absolutely no line since we were a bit early. Check-in was smooth as silk. We received our boarding passes and cards and checked our 10 magnums of wine. The families decided to split the $15 corking fees and trust me this was a major savings. We waited about 45 minutes for our number to be called and this was not an issue since all of our kids had ipods and/or mini sony playstations. We boarded the ship about noon greeted with some cheap champagne (nice touch) but an offer of beer would have been better.

SHIP - Once on the ship each family purchased 2 soda cards each one for our kids ($28) and one for adults ($50). You won't need one for each person, waste of money. The ship appeared to be clean for the most part and by now we were all hungry and found our way to the Garden Cafe. There was a wide selection of food most of it was fair at best, for lunch. Most of the guys drank beer so get the bucket of beer, buy 5 get one free turned out to be good deal compared to most sport stadiums.

ROOMS - We were on deck 8 with an obstructed view but you could still see the ocean. Frank and Philip were our stewards 2 really nice guys who did want we needed & quickly. The room was okay for the 4 of us. Plenty of draw space, sliding door shower, nice size, comfortable beds. Not enough outlets for ipods, cells and kid's games. 2 Families had mini-suites and both were happy with them. Read more