We stayed pre-cruise in Lauderdale by the Sea and arranged for a limo service to pick up four of us at 1 p.m., arriving at the pier after the short drive. There were no lines at all for embarkation, it may have taken 15 min at the most to get on the ship, our rooms were ready when we boarded. The luggage started to arrive right away and all luggage was delivered within a half hour -- this ship was full with over 1800 passengers and we were amazed by how quickly we could get settled in. Our cabin was a bit smaller than on the Rotterdam, but it was comfortable and there was plenty of room to unpack for a 13 day cruise. The balcony was plenty big enough for two arm chairs, a footstool and a small table and we could open the partition between our cabin and our friend's. The bath is roomy and the beds are out of this world. My only complaint is that the desk is too small for the TV, wine bucket, ice bucket and such -- you have to put the ice stuff on the floor when you want to use the desk for primping. Our cabin steward Dana was super!!

I have mixed feelings about the public spaces, they are bland, not classy but not offensive. The atrium is boring and inside there are a lot of weird corridors that gave me a closed in feeling -- there are no WOW look at that areas.

Outside there are plenty of spaces for lounging both by the pools and on upper decks, on a full ship with lots of sea days you never had trouble finding a quiet place to sun. The Lido is well designed for traffic flow and the Crow's Nest feels like an old friend with spectacular views and great lounge chairs. Read more