Embarkation was easier than Carnival. There were more lines for scanning at Port Liberty than in New York. We had a suite so were directed to a shorter line. Very nice experience. We were allowed to go right to our room, but our luggage didn't follow for four more hours. The bed was a double; I had to ask two times to have it separated and it was (finally) while we were at dinner; the walk in closet had a shelving unit which was nice plus there were four cabinets and a shelf unit in the room. The balcony fit a lounge chair, two regular chairs and a table and was nice because the floor wasn't wooden so we could sit in bare feet without the splinters we suffered on the other ship we have taken.

Our stateroom attendant was really good; extra ice was always there for us.

We enjoyed the food more than Carnival's offerings; I found the menu rather limited, though. The breakfast buffet was adequate. The dit down breakfast was better. The sit down lunch was good, the lunch buffet was hands-down excellent for variety; stay away from the hamburgers (dry and flavorless) and the hot dogs (salty) though. There's a nice oriental section. The dinners were (as I said) limited in choice, but most were fine. I ordered a chorizo and pasta dish one night and was disappointed that the chorizo was actually Italian sausage (salty, no paprika, no spice). We both had lobster and shrimp on lobster night. The shrimp were excellently done; the lobster tail wasn't a real lobster - it was rock lobster, overcooked and tasteless. The Italian specialty restaurant, Portofino, was definately worth the 20$ cover charge. They had a decent wine selection in both dining rooms; I ordered a bottle of Merlot at Portofino and it took 20 minutes to get to the table because they had to check various areas since it wasn't in stock. They then brought it and served it to my companion even though I ordered it - I just thought that odd. Read more