CHEERS - Beautiful ship. Great cabin layout & storage. Excellent cabin attendant. Just about entire staff was very friendly. Interesting ports of call (our first time in all locations). Evening entertainment was very good. For those willing to try something new in food, The Wonderland Restaurant was a terrific idea and worth giving a shot. The I-Fly and the Northstar were excellent and must-dos IF you can get a reservation for them. TIP - if you couldn't get a reservation for the Northstar (like us) - we were able to get on at the Cape Liberty Port before we sailed while people were still getting on the boat - spectacular views of NYC and the Statue of Liberty. If you're in the NY, NJ, PA area and can drive to the port, RC offers a 'self depart' option which I HIGHLY recommend. You keep your bags and leave when you wish after the ship has cleared customs. We were off the boat, through customs and back in our car in the $20 a day lot in 20-25 minutes.

JEERS - WAY too many people. If you're going to try to get reservations for anything on the ship, do it as soon as you book. We found on shore and off shore activities unavailable six months prior to our cruise. With 4000+ guests on board, if only 10% of them are interested in something - that's 400 people competing with you for seats and events. Many bars and public areas became packed, with people showing up 30 minutes early just to get a good seat. Elevators at key times were loaded before even getting to you. The "My Time" dining seemed to be a challenge for the dining staff so that even with a reservation, it still seemed like a fire drill to be seated sometimes - and for the most part, we were dining after 7:00 PM. If you need to access a computer terminal for work, or if you just like to use a terminal while on board, forget it - they had only FOUR. My wife was sick for a day, great service at the doctor's office - but to watch TV in your cabin? Not a lot of options. Guests with Scooters; if I had $10 for every scooter I saw on board, I could have paid for the trip. This is not critical of them, but of those who thought that NASCAR rules and speed limits were OK for a cruise ship - hey, slow your roll!

EXCURSIONS - It rained during our day in Boston, the only rain of the trip - but we booked the City View hop on, hop off bus tour = very good. Got you to a lot of things worth seeing. Nice self-tour of Old Ironsides. Portland Maine was probably our favorite stop. So much to do in a 10 to 20 block area as soon as you get off the ship. Shopping, food (Portland Lobster Co) and a nice park all within walking distance. (Some rest/beverage stops included). Bar Harbor was a beautiful location and the Lulu Lobster boat was a nice excursion. Many great places to eat and shop, we chose the West Street Cafe and don't miss stopping into Geddy's, a neat locals place. Also had a nice park right off the dock. In Halifax, we did a Royal excursion to Peggy's Cove - nice place with spectacular views, but can also get incredibly crowded. Last stop was Saint John, where we wound up finding a cab driver named Phillip in front of the Hilton Hotel right off the port who gave us a nice personal tour of the area for a reasonable fee and dropped us off at the City Market. Make sure to get the local tide information so you can get to the reversing rapids at the Bay of Fundy at high tide. Had a nice late lunch at Grannon's, a little pricey, but the seafood chowder and fresh Digby Scallops wrapped in bacon more than made up for it. Read more