We had a great time. Almost everything was exceptional: the food, the service, the entertainment, the ships facilities. This was the first cruise that we splurged on a room with a balcony -- and it was fabulous. We lett the doors open at night and enjoyed the sounds of the waves. The balcony certainly helped make the room feel larger! We had exceptional service in the dining room and booked every night with the same waiter. The crew seemed to be a family and liked each other a lot and seemed to truly want to help and ensure we had a good time ... and this happy attitude certainly spilled over in all out experiences onboard.

We booked our own tours -- which were great. We don't enjoy being on a bus with lots of other tourists. The only challenge was that we had to walk a distance to pickup our private tours since they were now allowed to come close to the ship to pick us up. They were able, however, to drop us off near the ship after the tour.

The negatives were: 1) the alcoholic drinks were VERY weak and watered down. 2) we felt a constant push to buy something in the shops, or presentations etc....and the prices were unbelievably outrageous. As a lapidary and jewelry maker, I'm flabbergasted that anyone would purchase jewelry at the ship's store or 'art' displayed in the gallery or at the auction. Maybe the purchases are a fantastic souvenir and fond memorabilia of a great cruise ,,, but the purchases were definitely not a good value.