This was about our 10th cruise but as we were sailing on our smallest ship ever, the Royal Caribbean Empress of the Seas, so we were a little timid going in. But from the minute we got on the ship until the minute we got off, we were impressed and maybe came away thinking this was our best cruise ever. The staff, food and amenities were excellent and if you weren't looking outside, you would have never known you were on a cruise. It was an unbelievably smooth cruise and even the nightly shows far exceeded our expectations especially the Whitney Houston Tribute show. We also didn't feel crowded on this ship as we have on most others even though it was a small ship and did probably have about 1300 of its potential 2,000 people aboard. I would recommend this cruise and ship to everyone especially those who are intimidated by the big megaships.