First, I must admit that I am partial to freestyle cruising. I love the freedom to do what you want, when you want, dress-up or not; thus, points are auto-added just for that.

Getting aboard was quick and easy. We were escorted to the Haven, where drinks and sliders were passed as we waited to get in our room. The wait was not long; about 45-60 minutes. As we waited, I decided to get a tour of the spa as I was considering a spa pass. The spa was very nice, but pricy, $246, because I failed to complete the purchase at $199++ online.

After returning from the spa tour, we went to Margaritaville for lunch. It was available at no charge for Haven guest. There was a 25 minute wait. DDs ordered the massive serving of nachos and I ordered the fish tacos. After getting the nachos, we understood why nearly full plates were taken away. The portions are massive and the cheese tasted synthetic to me. The fish tacos were inedible. My waiter asked if I wanted something else, I passed. When we left, our room, 17104 was ready and our luggage had arrived. Our steward, Jeffery, met us almost immediately. A little later our butler, Dillip arrived and introduced himself. The cabin phone was programmed to ring directly to them. I don't recall that this was the procedure when we were in the Haven on the Epic, but it is certainly nice to have that level of access. After unpacking, I headed to the gym to sign up for spin classes. The price went up by $5, to $20 per class, but if you got the package of 3, the 4th class was free. Read more