We chose this cruise specifically for the ship. We have heard such great things about this ship, and the pictures posted by other cruisers were so impressive, we waned to experience it ourselves.

Embarkation was very quick and smooth. That is were the good experience ended on the first day. Once we stepped onto the ship, we were shuffled off to find our way to the Windjammer Buffet on deck 16 aft. We entered the ship, deck 5 midship. This was around 12:30 pm the exact time RCCL told us to board. They must have told all 6000 guest to get there at the same time. The Royal Promenade was so crowded it took us a while to get through to elevators to take us to us to deck 16. Forget trying to get Pizza at Sorento's when you board unless you want to wait for an hour and eat stading. Finally, we made it to Windjammer after a 10 minute wait for an elevator, onlly to be told it was closed due to filled to capacity. We were then directed to deck 15 forward to the Solarium Bistro. This meant another 10 minute elevator wait. We had several handicapped people in our group of 9 that could not navigate stairs so elevator was our only choice. Finally made it to Bistro were we did get tasty food, but it as very hot in there. Cabins were ready by the time we ate. There did not seem to be many staff members around the ship to help people navigate that first day. We asked directions to the boardwalk only to be told by a rude staff member to read the signs. We did find after losing our way to our room there are nice little kiosk by elevators to lead you to your room.

Our Boardwalk Balcony stateroom made up for the experience we got boarding the ship. It as better than expectations. It was the last room on deck 9 overlooking the Aqua Theater. It had plenty of space for our belongings, and to walk around. The view was fantastic. The room steward was very attentive to our needs, and kept our room fresh and tidy. Read more