As a regular solo traveler, after a lot of encouragement from friends, I decided to go on my first cruise. It happened to be this one due to the dates and itinerary. Here are my quick points:

* The staff and service is absolutely awesome!! Embarkation, disembarkation, room steward/housekeeping, food service, bartending, spa, etc. was all great. The staff works so very hard - and they went above and beyond to make it a great Christmas cruise for us. The only exception I would say was the person who initially took my bag in Miami; it was a small carry-on, but I didn't feel like carrying a 3rd bag, so I checked it it; he very blatantly asked me for a tip, which made me wonder if my bag was actually going to get to my room.

* Food was excellent at the buffet/Grand Pacific/Alizar! I didn't even feel the need to go to the specialty restaurants. The Irish pub was handy late in the wee hours of the night. Keep in mind that there's a "good coffee" machine in the buffet in addition to the regular coffee machine (they both look alike). Also, if you're looking for some naturally flavoured water, head to the spa (I wish they had more of those all over the vessel) Read more