Background: My wife and I are both 51 years old. Balcony cabin on the 8th deck. Planned the cruise for 9 months. Koningsdam 10 days, Fort Lauderdale.
Our serious cruising friends let us know about a "brand new" ship they were to sail on in Dec 2016, having never been on a ship that was not at least 20 years old we booked it. My wife was to graduate nursing school and that would be a great celebration.
The new ship was going to be awesome, and it was.