Cruise was great except for shore excursions in Rostock, Helsinki, and Stockholm. In all three cases, the tour guides were poor at handling a group and understanding its needs. The Rostock guide insisted upon telling countless meaningless stories in the open during the pouring rain when shelter was only a block away. The Helsinki guide lost control almost immediately, and the Stockholm guide gave conflicting and confusing instructions several times on where to meet. They also were not very good at making bathroom breaks available. However, there is not enough praise I could give about Irini, our St. Petersburg guide for 2 days. She was exceptional!

Non-specialty restaurants were fine. Best variety was at the Cafe buffet on Deck 15 but it was always very busy there and often hard to find a table. Savor and Taste were fine for a seated meal. Of the specialty restaurants we tried, the Italian place was not memorable but the Moderno Brazilian offering was wonderful. The food at Cirque was blah and the entertainment was average at best.

Overall entertainment was pretty average except that Million Dollar Quartet was pure joy!