Embarkation -- Very smooth considering we arrived an hour later than expected due to our shuttle being late picking us up at the Holiday Inn Rocky Point. The shuttle was held up because of the delay in the Carnival ship getting to port. We were in an AFT PH so went to the VIP desk and were whisked away to another area with drinks, cookies and sandwiches. We got our key cards right away and were being escorted onto the ship about 10 minutes later. We didn't get escorted on by our butler as he was busy. We did not utilize the Butler or Concierge during our cruise preferring to make reservations ourselves. We booked the room for the view and balcony.

The room -- We had a deck 10 AFT PH (10728) and loved the room. The bed was very comfortable and the bathroom was nice. The balcony was by far the best part. Wide and deep with 2 loungers, 1 upright chair and a small table. Roomy enough for 2 more loungers. Our first sea day we took a long nap out there. It was fabulous. I know that many will disagree with this but we didn't like the Lavazza coffee. It was much stronger then I care for. The tea was good though. We ate in 2 specialty restaurants and made the reservations ourselves. Both my husband and I liked Endless Summer although there was way too much food (not a complaint!) for us to finish. We also liked Ginza. The portions were smaller but the food was excellent.

The Ship -- We like the Star a lot. I loved the Atrium and liked the layout of the ship in general. The seats in the Stardust were not as comfortable as the ones on the Sun but the theatre is bigger. We enjoyed all the shows very much. Read more