We booked 3 cabins for a long overdue extended family cruise. We got 3 cabins for ourselves (66), our daughter and her family (35 + 2 grandkids aged 2 to 3 1/2) and our son and his girlfriend (30). All cabins were on the starboard bump (large balconies) one on 6, one on 7 and a junior suite on 8 for our daughter and her family. The rooms were beautiful, large enough, well appointed and nicely laid out. The ships crew was friendly, with some of them really standing out. The huge ship is still new looking and the Boardwalk, Promenade and Central Park were simply amazing. The entertainment was outstanding and we liked all the food we tried, eating in the main dining room and at just about each specialty restaurant.

This ship had enough variety of things to do to keep our wide range of family members happy.

So, why the 2 star rating? Simply put, the elevators on this ship are awful - they were hot, stuffy, almost always crowded and extremely slow. Two banks of 12 forward and midships are simply not enough to service the 5,500 guests on board. With the large number of families on board, many had strollers and they had an even harder time getting an elevator with enough room for them to get on. Luckily, we were only a stairway or two (or three) away when moving between our rooms and the main areas on 5,6 and 8. We went to the upper decks (including the Windjammer cafe) ONCE during the whole trip due to the elevator situation. It simply wasn't worth the waiting time and effort and unpleasantness to go there. Simply a shame that RCL failed on this in their otherwise superb ship design. A couple of elevators aft could have been located on the wings just forward of the Aqua Suites without losing too many cabins. Read more