We have been back for a week and I have been formulating thoughts of our cruise. First off, we did meet with a group of Cruise Critics while on board and had a great time, especially meeting Musicus who is on-board for an entire year. A true gentleman and quite entertaining-make sure to hear him play the piano!
I will try to do a break-down of different aspects. Remember, these are MY thoughts...even my husband disagrees with me as he saw some things differently than I did.
TRAVEL TO PORT: We took a red-eye on JetBlue out of Long Beach CA airport two days before our cruise to give us time to see the city. We much prefer sight-seeing before a cruise rather than after. We like this Long Beach airport as we love flying JetBlue plus it is easy to get to and maneuver around. The only issue is that you board the planes from the tarmac, rain or shine. The red-eye was my first...don't know if I would like to do it again. It put us into NYC at 6:00 AM. We had pre-paid a private car service, "1-800-LimoRes" for pick-up and got great service. Right on time and picked us up at the curb right outside baggage claim - ask for "Yogi" - you will not go wrong. Tell him he was recommended by the crazy group of four on their private tour that wanted to go have NYC style pizza and Red Velvet Cake.
Adjoining balcony cabins 12132 & 12134 Leopardi Deck. Balcony had unobstructed view except for one vertical cross beam off to the side. Spacious, good storage (lots of drawers) Safe in the closet. Beautifully decorated. The closet was a bit tight as it opened into the bathroom door but we made it work. Bathroom was good..not too small..we are bigger people and the shower (with curtain) worked for us. Cabin was located at mid-section VERY near elevators. Located across from Crew door. Also, unfortunately, located under the Cafeteria which has wooden floors. Heard a LOT of heavy banging from the kitchen and the scrape of chairs early in the morning when Cafeteria was open. Very noisy at those times. This was definitely an issue. Balcony and windows were washed almost every other "at Dock" so were kept very clean.