This was my first cruise, so I don't have anything to compare my experience to, but it definitely was not as bad as some of the recent reviewers say. I think their vacation experience was so bad because their weather was cold in Florida/Bahamas. We had perfect weather the whole cruise to the E. Caribbean. By the second day at sea after leaving cold NYC, everybody was out at the pools and sun decks. The nights were warm and breezy and the days were sunny and hot. Finding a lounger by the pool was a chore because most of them are full by the morning and people try to save the chairs all day by placing their towels all over them. I watched for 20 mins from the pool to see if anyone was coming back to their chairs. If no sign, I threw their towels off and got comfortable. You can't hold your chairs for more than 30 mins., the rule was not enforced by staff, so I took it upon myself. A couple times, a couple hours later people came back and gave looks, but oh well.

The staff was overall pretty decent. Our cabin steward was cordial and attentive enough, but I think he was uncomfortable because we were a gay couple and asked for our beds to be pushed together! LOL The aft/starboard balcony stateroom was small, but nice and they kept it clean and the ice stocked. The bed was surprisingly comfortable. We had great views of the Statue of Liberty leaving New York. The ship was always on time arriving and leaving ports.

You do feel 'nickeled and dimed' on the ship, they even want to charge you ten bucks to learn how to fold towels the way they do. It was my first time to a casino and we lost a lot of money at bingo and the casino. I wouldn't buy into their instant win tickets they try to sell all cruise, we never won anything and they're 20 bucks a pop. Read more