I sailed in the first week of January with my mother. We took a chance, due to a good price, with a cabin guarantee in the HH category which is an outside fully obstructed cabin. What we were assigned was cabin 382 which was an outside cabin on the promenade deck that was not fully obstructed. However, as I read on cruise critic and I can confirm now myself, this is a cabin that is directly under the kitchen galley. I took the galley tour later in the cruise and I believe our cabin was below the bakery area where there is a noisy, vibrating industrial mixer. The noise was tolerable as it was occasional throughout the day and pretty quiet late night. However, we experienced a flood in our cabin on the last evening which I will explain in further detail. My advice is do not get a cabin guarantee, if you choose to go on this ship which I do not recommend.

This ship itself is worn looking with some exceptions. The bathroom in the cabin looked almost brand new and was likely part of the 2010 refurbishment. The theater, although smaller than other ships, was tastefully decorated and did not look old. There is worn carpeting throughout the ship and the main lobby area is small with an ugly large sculptor in the middle.

Cleanliness of the ship is not what they preach. The ship is in a virtual lock down for the first two days in the lido buffet area. You are not allowed to serve yourself any food or drink, including water or coffee. This creates long lines for everything and having to go back for items. Even the salt and pepper is off the table. In addition, they will not offer a spoon or milk, cream for the coffee and then you find out that you had to ask for it as it is off limits. The cleanliness in the buffet stops there as they are short on crew and during peak times stacked with dirty dishes. I think what they are doing is good practice but they need more staffing and attention to their passengers. The other issue with cleanliness is that the public bathrooms were often not clean. On one occasion, there was no soap available in any dispenser. I alerted a crew employee in the gift shop, next door to the bathroom who looked at me blankly and told me that there is hand sanitizer machines around the ship. I told him that I thought that was a serious health hazard. Read more