This was a 5 day cruise out of Galveston. We had a balcony on the 8th floor. The rooms really need to be updated and renovated. The ship has so much rust in it's exterior that it just looks bad. This is our first time on this ship, we were not impressed at all. I would give this cruise less stars, but the service was wonderful from our room attendant, to the bar waiters, to the service desk.
Food:
The buffet food was terrible. We tried it a few times, and just couldn't find anything we liked. It has an impressive presentation, but lacking in flavor. We ended up upgrading to The Chops Grille. It was awesome! The waiters were wonderful. My only complaint would be to change up the menu each night. We ate there every night! It was the only specialty restaurant on this ship. It would have been nice to have other options on specialty restaurants like on other ships. The ship also had a cafe in the solarium upstairs by the pool area. I enjoyed the salad bar there, but the sandwiches were awful! How hard is it to make a decent sandwich! There was always a line for the pizza. I couldn't understand why the hours were so limited on the pizza, when there isn't too many eating options. On debarkation day, it would be nice to have more options than the buffet. You can't order room service that morning. I just packed a granola bar and had my husband pick up some coffee at the buffet for me that morning.
Galveston is near our home town. There are many restaurants to choose from. The port is in walking distance to the historical strand area. It is a nice place to visit.
There are many shops located right next to the port. It feels just like Mexico without actually venturing off the port. It is very secure. Once you leave this area, there is a taxi stand if you want to venture into town. The water is beautiful.