This was our first cruise and one of our last family vacations before our oldest goes to college. We chose the week of President's day because NY has the week off for winter break. The itinerary was also a deciding factor for the cruise. It was the Eastern Caribbean with port stops in Amber Cove, St Thomas, San Juan-PR, and Grand Turk.

Weather was warm and sunny. There was always high winds on sea day so that prevented us from entirely enjoying the lido deck. There were A LOT of kids due to the break but that didn't impact our enjoyment at all.

Ship was very clean and at full capacity according to the CD. I never felt overcrowded but we didn't hang out on Lido all the time. Staff was cleaning and they even painted the hull (?) during our port days in Amber Cove and St. Thomas. Public bathrooms were clean and well stocked. Fun shops were okay. Casino was the only negative. So smoky!!! It drifted out of the casino into the atrium and ocean plaza. There were small ionizer within the casino and it actually was less smoky when you walked through the casino. I did not see any ionizers outside the casina and there should be because the stench was unbearable on sea days in the atrium. Read more