EMBARKATION: We arrived at the Port of Los Angeles at 11am. It was easy to find. We got to the front of the boarding security line before we were told that we should have given our large luggage to a porter before getting in line! We had to get out of line to do so, but the security person let us back in at the front of the line. The rest of the boarding process was fast and easy, and we were on the ship before noon. We enjoyed a leisurely buffet lunch, and the rooms were ready shortly after 1pm.

ROOM: Our oceanview room with a porthole on deck 4 was pleasantly decorated in cheerful colors. There was plenty of storage space. The bathroom was small, especially the toilet area, and poorly lit. A large person would have a difficult time moving around in the bathroom. The hairdryer (very heavy!) was at the desk outside of the bathroom, and that area was poorly lit as well, but the room as a whole had decent lighting. I had to put on makeup at the porthole to get enough light. We had one fairly hard chair and the bed was not comfortable to sit on. The bed was okay for sleeping but sagged somewhat. The walls were quite thin and we heard noise from the hallway and from the adjacent rooms. We listened to the man in the room next to us belching loudly every evening.

FOOD: The Market Cafe buffet food was fair to good. Many entrees were oversalted. It was a cafeteria atmosphere with cheap seating. At the omelet station they use yucky processed cheese, so I gave that up. They had yummy chilled fruit soup every day, and both soft-serve and scooped ice cream were available. The buffet got very crowded at times, especially on at-sea days. We got tired of the buffet very quickly and started going to one of the dining rooms for breakfast and lunch, as well as for dinner. We never had dinner at the buffet. Read more