We chose this cruise primarily due to the Bayonne departure. My husband & I did not have children or others with us. We were very disappointed by several factors. There is constant huckstering! You cannot avoid someone trying to sell you something. Don't attempt to walk down the Royal Esplanade without having someone shove a piece of paper at you explaining another "special' sale or art auction or spa special. In addition, our cabin attendant was the worst we have ever had & we have sailed 15 times. He (Tio) never vacuumed the carpet, could not remember to bring clean glasses or an extra shower mat & had to be asked several times for wine glasses. When we told him a wine glass had broken on the balcony he never cleaned up the shards of glass. We had cleaned up the rest of the glass. Our stateroom was a Spa Jr. Suite. The shower door leaked, could not be fixed, & that was why we needed an extra shower mat. Do not book cabin #6242 unless the sound of toilets flushing at all hours from the cabins above & adjacent does not bother you. Very noisy!

Because we were in a suite we were able to dine (dinner only) in Coastal Kitchen. The best part of that was not having to deal w/the throngs of people in the Grande. The service/food was comparable to a nice restaurant in our area in Pennsylvania but not outstanding & at times the breads/rolls were not fresh. There is not a lot of ambience in Coastal Kitchen either. We were given one complimentary meal at a specialty restaurant. We chose Chops Grille. The food/service there was very good. We both choose the Filet Mignon & it was prepared as ordered. The pizza in Sorrento's was ok. We attempted to have breakfast in the Grande one time. I say attempted because they didn't bring my omelet! A waiter came by to collect the cutlery and I asked him how I was supposed to eat without a fork! They finally brought an omelet and apologized.

We had breakfast/lunch in the windjammer a few times and the major problem there is finding a place to sit. People still sit and chat even when they are finished and can clearly see others looking for a table. Rude. Also, the floors under the tables needed a good cleaning, not very pleasant to sit where there is food/paper debris under foot. I will say that there was a very good selection of fresh fruit and the omelets were very well prepared. In addition there was a very good selection of breads, rolls, pastries. The coffee was generally pretty good too. Table service is almost non-existent. Read more