I booked this New Year's cruise for DH, DS and I to take them to the Mexican Riviera and have a fabulous holiday. It was an expensive cruise over the holiday also. Embarkation was smooth and went quickly, no complaints there. The cabin was fine, nothing special, normal balcony room. There was a maintenance issue; the shower leaked out onto the carpet near the bed. Not sure it was ever totally rectified, but a fan was put in to dry the area and someone sent a bottle of wine as compensation for the trouble. Cabin steward was good, and provided towel animals after the first night.

Dining and service was where this ship had serious issues. I have an allergy, informed them well in advance, met with the designated person after embarkation and pre-ordered all my dinners. It was great they had a designated person, and he thoroughly worked in my best interest. However, because I pre-ordered, I expected the kitchen to modify the recipes to make the food enjoyable, not just leave off ingredients and essential elements of the dishes (i.e., no sauce in place of hollandaise). This was not just in the MDR (Versailles, Taste was somewhat better), but the specialty restaurants as well, Cagney's and La Cucina (Moderno was the exception, and was fine). It was not just my food that was disappointing though, as DH and DS agreed none of the food in any of the venues, except for Moderno, was up to par. Cagney's was downright disappointing.

While the service in Moderno's was very good, the same could not be said about Cagney's or the MDR. There were very long waits for drinks, food courses, and no one ever came by to ask how the food was; it was like they knew and didn't want to hear the issues. I had to waive the server down in Cagney's twice to inform him my food was inedible. I spoke with the manager, who informed the server to bring me something else. No apology, no offer for another meal on a different night. We decided to have dinner on New Year's Eve in the MDR, thinking it would be something special, but the service was terrible, the food barely edible, and the entire experience disappointing. I was embarrassed to have brought my family on this cruise for a holiday. Read more