I have been on two cruises over the past year (one 7 night to the Caribbean and one 12 night to the Panama Canal). I had such a good time, I wanted my husband to have the experience too. Every time I told him what I liked about cruising, he would say, "That just does not sound like fun to me." I came up with the brilliant idea to introduce him to cruising with a shorter cruise. BIG MISTAKE. A 4-night cruise is definitely not for someone who wants to get a taste. If something goes wrong, there is just not enough time to recover. In this case, one of the big issues was the weather. It was terrible. I had talked up the idea of tranquil seas, sitting on our balcony in the sunshine, etc. Instead, we were basically hunkered down for much of the cruise. Obviously, this was not RCI's fault, but it definitely added to the "blegh" of the trip. We brought along our adult daughter and son in law. Again, big mistake. Our daughter was sea sick the entire time. (Again, not RCI's fault, but still...) We had one day with sun (the last day) and EVERYONE was at the pool. My husband saw the teeming mass of humanity and, while he tried to put a good face on, I could tell he was uncomfortable.
Now for the good news: The service people were fantastic. We selected "My Time Dining" and made reservations for 6 p.m. each evening. The first night we ate at Table 51 (table for 4) with our waiters Luis and Ventura. This was the highlight of the cruise. We were able to secure that table for all our dinners. I can't say enough about Luis and Ventura. They knew our names by the first day and whenever we saw them around the ship, they always said hello. The food was hit and miss, but not terrible. I enjoyed the chopped salads in the dining room for lunch. The Windjammer was a huge disappointment. The food was just not that great. The music around the ship was also hit and miss. The orchestra was fantastic.
This cabin is in the "new section," which means you get shower doors instead of curtains and a few other upgrades. I thought the room was a good size (compared to other cruises I've been on). The balcony was small, but usable. Our room attendant was absolutely fantastic. (The best I've ever had.) He was one of the best parts of the cruise. I was disappointed in the beds, but only because the other two cruises I've been on had such comfortable beds, I thought that maybe all cruise lines had this. I was able to sleep just fine, but it would have been better had the beds been more comfortable. I liked the location of the room and would not hesitate to pick that same room. The only potential problem is that you definitely could hear the music from the Centrum until about 11 p.m. each evening. The music was decent though, so it didn't bother me all that much. But, if you're a light sleeper, you might want to try to get on the 8th floor.
I have cruised from Miami and Fort Lauderdale before and Port Canaveral is definitely the easiest. Parking was a breeze and finding where to go to check in was easy as well. The attendants at the port were very friendly, which was a nice touch. While there were a lot of people getting on the ship at the same time, the lines moved and it was not at all difficult to get on the ship.
Well, part of this is not Nassau's fault. We arrived in a blinding rainstorm and it rained the whole day. We got soaked walking around town. If you don't shop (we don't), there isn't all that much interesting to see (especially in the rain). We went to the pirate museum, which was kind of fun and quaint.