I am a first time cruiser I was encouraged to try cruising by family and friends who had nothing but great things to say about cruising. I was very disappointed with my first experience. The ship was way to big,service was just so so. The service crew didn't seem to be a happy bunch. Entertainment left a lot to be desired. The cruise line nickel and dimed you for everything. Soft drinks, fresh juices and hard drinks were not included in the price. We were charged $12.00 per day per person for tips even though service was not that great. This was a freestyle cruise with cafeteria style food. There were many pay restaurants which were quite expensive and we tried one and the food was not that great. You were also expected to eat quickly to make room for the next sitting. The entertainment was just ok and again the better shows you had to pay to see. The extras really added up. Our stateroom was quite small a real tight fit. There were only two small swimming pools and a water park. Everything was so far away so lots of walking and easy to get lost.

We also lost our first two days ,which were at sea, because of a balcony flood. It took 7 different people in and out of our room the first day that we never got out of our stateroom till late afternoon. The problem returned the next day and my travelling companion slipped coming off the balcony into our stateroom and banged her knee on the bed. Her knee bruised and started to swell right away. Once again it took all day to settle the problem,including a three hour visit to the medical clinic. We were now angry and we had not eaten all day and we demanded that we at least be sent breakfast to our room as no one was offering us anything for our trouble. We only got breakfast at 3pm and had lost another whole day.We missed all the seminars on where to go on the islands and where the best shopping was. Finally at the end of the second day after insisting on another room were we moved. Now we had to pack again only to unpack again. None of the customer service people seemed to understand or sympathize with us at all. After my companion told the service people that she should sue to be reimbursed our first two days at the least were we told that the cruise line does not reimburse. We were offered a complimentary dinner at one of the pay restaurants not even with a bottle of wine. During our dinner my friend bit into something hard in her food , it turned out to be a piece of plastic. We were offered a glass of wine each and she was offered another dish. We declined since my friend was no longer in the mood to try anything else. I was ready to end my vacation then and there. We felt cheated as the cruise was not cheap and we expected so much more.We felt we were treated really shabbily.

Since the ship was so large and so many passengers there were lineups for everything. Lots of walking to get anywhere on the ship and very easy to get lost. Read more