We are a married couple in our 30s - this was my 6th cruise, 4th with Royal Caribbean (also have done one each on Celebrity and Holland America). The itinerary is wonderful; sea days and port days nearly alternate, so plenty of relaxation time with port calls interspersed. The ship is beautiful with lots of great spots to view the ocean, the crew for the most part extremely friendly, and we were blessed with outstanding weather and an extremely fun group of people we met through the Cruise Critic Roll Call board (and managed to miss a negative 16 degree day in Chicago)!

Our stateroom was an outside room with a window but no balcony on deck three. We had booked a coveted D1 Aft Balcony, but downgraded to an oceanview guarantee as the price was nearly $2000 less! The room was adequate size for two, but would have been cramped if a third or fourth was sailing with us. Basic necessities were supplied (i.e. soap, shampoo, and a hair dryer - though not sure why they provide a hair dryer when it seems like women always bring there own anyways)! I enjoyed the window a lot more than I thought I would. On the higher decks you do not get a good perspective of the waves, but from deck three the waves look much bigger and you can see their definition. I often placed pillows in the window sill and sat inside the window with the waves splashing within inches of me when we hit rough seas (one particularly large wave crashed against the window and sounded like a loud thunder bolt). Our stateroom attendant was less personable than on other cruises and made a couple small mistakes (i.e. charging us for a bottled water from the mini bar we did not consume) but overall was adequate. Guest relations easily remedied the couple problems that came up.

Our waiter in the main dining room (Adrian) was outstanding; very energetic, friendly, and he provided great service and recommendations. Ivan his assistant was somewhat quiet, but good as well. They readily accommodate reasonable special requests our table had and quickly learned our names and individual preferences. We even arranged for the Maitre'D to bring a dessert to our table for Adrian on his birthday and we sang for him. We loved a lot of the staff we met at the bars/lounges , especially Freddy in the champagne bar (outstanding martinis there as well for martini lovers and free hot appetizers and caviar bar when you order a drink before dinner there) and Eva at the pool bar (she also works in the Concierge Lounge overflow room at the Vortex on Deck 13). Both of them always provided service with a smile, made great drinks, and when they were not too busy provided a lot of one-on-one time with us. Joff, the cruise director and his staff were also very approachable and ran a variety of fun and diverse activities. Captain Thor provided a nice speech at the Welcome Aboard Reception and seemed more personable than other Captain's I have sailed with. Read more