Great for first timers...

we chose this cruise because of the duration/ports/and the fact it went under a refurbishment.

So here is my two cents---I'm a pretty easy going passenger and pretty much goes with the flow...so upon reading all the low reviews about this ship I came aboard with no high expectations.

Pros:

*My kids (both 4 and 5) enjoyed the water slides/splash park

* On the first day of the cruises I had a pretty good judgement of majority of the passengers (first timers; young adults; fair amount families with young children)--because of this I knew most of theses people were not going to get up early to eat breakfast/go to the pool to snag chairs. So wait times for the buffet for breakfast went pretty fast and we had no problems getting a chair at the pool.

*Embarkation and disembarkation went smooth for us

* blue java coffee is worth the money if you appreciate good coffee/tea

* The sushi and Alchemy bar were my favorites

* "Cheers" program is WORTH THE MONEY---buy it!!!!

* Our room steward Sai was very sweet

* Our kids love the camp ocean as well as the activities for them

* Never had any problems with the Staff

* Decent breakfast at the Main dining room

Cons:

* Dinner at the main dining room--------not too good

* The layout of the ship is pretty annoying (having to cut through a smoke filled casino or walk one flight up or down to get to your destination)

* The seafood shack is NOT WORTH the money--having to wait 45mins for bland fried seafood was not the business

* Yes areas of the ship did produce odors of old cigarettes and sewage.

* Buffet food--------------------its buffet food, soooooooooo

* The noodle bowl was good but too salty for my taste

* After having to wait 45mins at the seafood shack and seeing the same amount of ppl waiting at the deli I decided not to try it.

* We were on the Spa level--the floor was quiet but our stateroom (1115) was facing the stairs so we occasionally we heard ppl talking loudly or running up and down the stairs.

* we were on a balcony level and the balcony was soooooo narrow and i felt like the room was very small for 4 people.

So overall the cruise was okay. I believe those who are new to the cruising world would think the ship was great, I saw a lot of people who just wanted to have a good time and enjoy themselves, so I wasn't annoyed by the "urban demographic" (as some of these reviewers referred them to---by the way me and my family are apart of the "urban demographic). But because I consider myself a seasoned cruiser and had a pretty good idea where/what majority of the people were doing we didn't get the feeling that the ship was so crowded. Coffee shop...went there early, sushi--nobody wanted to pay extra for it so we basically had the whole area to ourselves, breakfast--went to the main dining area early and was seated immediately by the time we left there was a long line, hit the waterslides/pool/got chairs early before everyone else (remember we ate breakfast early, kids were dressed and ready for the pool--so by the time most woke up/ate breakfast we already had 2 lounge chairs--and this was by 10am)

Honestly I doubt I would cruise Sunrise again only because the layout of the ship was so annoying to me and the food wasn't that great.