We chose this cruise because we needed a boat that went out of the NY NJ area so we wouldn't have to fly to another destination. We were a group of 7: Myself, my husband, my two sons ages 3 and 6 and my inlaws. Embarkation went smoothly because we did everything online before we left, including the pictures for our seapass card.
We went directly to the buffet, we were in our rooms by 1:00pm. We sat outside to set sail.
Overall the crew was great. We didn't hit it off with any particular waiters which have in the past.
The best part about this cruise was our cabin. We were in a corner room all the way at the front of the ship. Because it was a corner room it had more space near the window. Our wall was actually the slant at the front of the boat. There was a lot of room for the kids to sprawl out and play. The only negative was that the curtain on the window was broken and we couldn't completely shut out the sun especially in the morning.
We embarked at this city. We did not take an excursion.