First a little bit about us so that you can compare your own perceptions to ours (which may be different): We are a family of four - Mom and Dad in our late 40's; a boy and girl - each teenagers. We traveled with two sets of grandparents, and an Aunt and Uncle in their 50's. We tend to choose restaurants that are nicer and have eaten at James Beard award winning restaurants. We prefer staying at well appointed condos with at least two bedrooms when traveling on vacation. Traveling to Alaska will be the 48th state for one member of our family, and we have only traveled abroad a few times (New Zealand, Australia, England, Italy and Greece). We took a short 3 day cruise on Carnival out of Long Beach, CA 8 years ago, but otherwise have not gone on any other cruises. I will break down our feedback into different categories below.

Overall review of ship: We all thought the ship was well maintained, clean, and nicely decorated. I believe that the ship will be undergoing updates in a year or two, but I did not think it was dated at all. We tended to take the stairs and walk around a lot so we easily got 10,000 steps in a day just on board the ship. You can choose close to the elevator banks (one forward and one aft) which bring you to the main activities of the ship.

Cabin: We could not have asked for a better cabin. We had a room with a balcony, and our two teenagers had an inside stateroom right across the hall. There was plenty of room to store all of our belongings, which is a lot considering cruisers need to bring multiple changes of clothes for exploring destinations, dressing up for dinner, hanging around the ship during the day, and sleeping. While we did see a room with bunk beds so 4 family could stay together, I don't know if we could have fit all of our belongings as well. The bathrooms were big enough for one person to use, but all our toiletries easily fit as there were many different spaces to store things. Our cabin steward took good care of the room as it was always clean. We did have Concierge class which meant nicer robes, nightly snack, a welcome bottle of champagne and access to a concierge who could help us with dinner reservations, shore excursions, and other things. We were celebrating a birthday and 50th anniversary during our cruise, so we got a special cake at one of our dinners. I did see people who had signs posted on their room doors wishing them a happy anniversary or birthday, but I don't know how to request those signs. Read more