Have cruised quite a bit across multiple lines so I feel that I have something to compare to. We booked this cruise for next month the day she went on sale and when the Previews came out we thought it would be a great way to try it before boarding with our group for a week. This ship did not disappoint! All those who are ragging on every little detail, the ship is new, the technology is being updated daily, the staff is trying to learn as much as they can but so many of us are so well informed they might have a challenge catching up! Loved the elegance and beauty in so many areas....although our 3 day was filled with corporate and industry, I know the feel will be so much different when we're onboard with all the vacationing crowds...living in Vegas I know how it feels to be in a beautiful space taken over by bathing suited partiers! As soon as we boarded had to have a drink on the Magic Carpet...unfortunately we didn't get a chance to experience while sailing but will when we go back next month. The cabins are really nicely done. Had a Panoramic Oceanview (next month it'll the the Infinite Veranda) and it was nicely done...loved the technology box on the desk and the fact there's USB plugs on the side of the phone as well as one side of the bed. the outlet in the bathroom is GREAT!!! Where do you ever see a regular 110 outlet in the bathroom? And a drawer for things as well as plenty of shelf space....event little hooks in the shower for the loofah or body sponge. Loved the Martini Bar that fills the atrium although the bar stool cushions slope towards the bar so you feel like you're sliding off, and you just started drinking! Interesting that they have two sizes of Martini...the larger is $18 so when we have the drink package we'll stick to the regular $15 size. All the MDR's seem nice, we only did two but service was excellent and food was very tasty. Oceanview Buffet is gorgeous...nicely done although I'm wondering when the ship is filled how it will seem but the décor is gorgeous with multiple areas to sit and varied seating options also. And loved Le Petit Chef...was fun and interesting, not sure I'd do it over and over unless with others who wanted to experience. Visited Eden but not for more than and hour one night, show was....different? Eden Café will be a nice option for lunch and breakfast...very nice menu. Eden Bar had a very different menu, some drinks are very pricey but it's all about the experience as well! And the theatre is beautiful, much smaller than others and nicely appointed, didn't see anywhere that had a blocked view so that's perfect! Entertainment is definitely different,..and time will tell! And Rooftop Garden was beautiful, especially with entertainment; one guitarist was 'perched' inside one of the decorative items...nice relaxing area as is the Grill although not sure I'd want to pay the money to 'dine' there. Celebrity is using a new Spa company out of Miami...the Spa is HUGE and beautiful and the prices go along with that.... We had a few issues with the app. The guy in the I Lounge couldn't help so we went to guest services, a couple times, they were very very helpful and friendly, and the tech expert came out and fooled with our phones. Said they're updating the app daily and as time goes by more and more will be possible on it...like the messaging to others onboard. I think this will be a different class and experience and not the right 'cup of tea' for some...but I really believe this ship cannot be judged based on a 2 or 3 day Preview...and we all know that new ships need the 'shake down' period to figure things out...to expect everything to run smoothly right away is not the way to go...will be interested to see how my 'avid cruising friends' sailing in April will feel and what their experience will be! Read Less

This is the newest Carnival Ship in fleet going to an Island I had not been to before ( St Kitts) You might miss the towering 9 story atrium but the new 3 story with the ever changing lightscape tower in the center of the Atrium bar is really cool. ONCE you master the new elevators it's a great innovation. I found that the "learning curve" for many passengers took perhaps the whole cruise. You have to hit the floor button in the waiting area as many times as there are people in your party or there may not be enough room as it's a "smart" elevator. However they need a handicap button as when a person with a wheelchair or scooter enters it's hard to fit more people in. The Comedy club venue ( Limelight Lounge deck 4 ) is small and the shows only last 30 minutes so get there early to get the best seats. Playlist productions has great shows in the forward Liquid Lounge (Decks 4 & 5) which turns into their late nite nightclub after the shows.Promenade deck 5 has many shops and bars with plenty of activity My best bartenders were: Pig & Anchor Bar = Ivana. Havana Bar = Diana, Alchemy Bar = Maria. Didn't go to the Piano bar but many said it was a great venue late after dinner. Read Less

I was really disappointed with MSC system. Most of the crew were rude, rude and rude in all area of the ship. Please pay attention to your bill. Almost everyday I need to go down the reception to clarify the charges. Even though I purchased the package for food and drink. They have too many package until the crew and myself also confuse what is what. Let take an example like I bought the premium package for my drinks. So it emphasized that any glass drink that is under euro 10 is under the package. But I was told that I need to pay for the drinks like sake and plum wine which was under Euro 10. Then when I go challenge with the crew they answered me " this is an Italian cruise and you are drinking japanese sake so you need to pay" so meaning all the whisky and beer from scotland and US I need to pay????? Becareful with the photo you purchase too. Please ask for a better package and do check whether they double charge or not. Most of the crew are really rude especially in the Buffet dining area. If you manage to have someone take good care of you then please do appreciate this person. I was ask this question when I try to order some drinks from the waiter " Why didn't you order just now". I also have argument with the waiter and the supervisor on the fresh orange juice which fall on less then euro 10 category. I could go on and on. Their are just tons of problem with their system. Even to the cleanliness of the cabin. Don't bother with Balcony. They don't clean your Balcony. Their shows is boring. So no point go paying for show at Curosell. Read Less

This was the second time that we travelled on the Allure o/t Seas. 1. The most impressive improvements were embarkation and debarkation. Not doubt RC has done a great job with Terminal A at Miami cruise port and the new procedure. Getting on board worked like a breeze. Also impressive reentry to the US just with facial recognition! 2. The second improvement to mention is the new RC phone-app, which makes it easy to see what is going on, during your stay at the ship. But there are still improvements possible. i.e. I found it difficult to find the arrival and all aboard times for port of calls in the abundance of activities listed. The same activities were also listed on the cabin-tv. While booked shows and shore excursions carried over to the phone, individually entered calendar events at the tv (non ship) would not be shown on the app. At one time the app froze and had to be reinstalled. Mostly though it worked fine. 3. We thought that this time the food in the main dining room was better than the first time we traveled on her. 4. The whole experience on board was also more enjoyable, but this I contribute more to our experience from last time, which helped tremendously to get the most out of a 7 day cruise on a ship of this size. 5. The shows, the main reason we returned to the Allure, were as good as ever, you just have to make sure you book the most convenient time for you beforehand. 6. The hostess in the Elite and higher lounge was of exceptional help with getting thigs organized and clarified as needed! Read Less

We have been using NCL for almost a decade, even had our wedding on Breakaway in 2015, but Escape is same class ship tuned down on interior design. Ship is simple design with no personally, practical floating hotel. We stayed in balcony room with a baby and toddler and it was OK, steward was OK, always busy and barely have time to anyone to talk. Management of the ship was an amazing crew, and anyone under was complete mess. Waiters in restaurants don't know what they doing and would screw up any simple order. Food in restaurants was OK, but buffet food is awful, minimum choices, a lot of cheap meat, no seafood or even NCL signature Norwegian lox. Specialties restaurant's food was amazing, and pricey and will make your wallet cry! In 14 days cruise we had only 2 free show After Midnight, Brat Pack, second one did not made any sense. Choir of Man show, is paid show with prefix dinner setting, was OK. We had one stop cancel due to 2 heliocopter lifts from the ship first two days with no explanation, and remaining stops were simple beach destinations. We end up spending more time on the ship due to cancelled stop, and there is nothing to do there. Kids sevice is ok for 3+ and for baby you have to pay $20 for 1 hour 50 min selected slot time. Overall experience of this cruise, is that NCL is cutting their cost by taking quality out of scope in any possible way they can. NCL becoming low class, no frills cruise line. Based off our last 14 day cruise, we are not coming back with NCL to cruise and will be looking for more classy company to cruise with. Read Less

We were invited to join a group. Group never went in the end due to health issues so just four of us went. Worked out fine for everyone. Embarking was a real easy process. YAHOO! We like cruising every second year. This one had some great ports. Trinidad however was FILTHY! Would never consider going there again. Food was good, Brenda and Cravy treated us well at dinner. They were attentive but not bothersome. Best stop for me was Martinique. Went on a private tour with Meri of Anoli Tours to the Habitation Clement distillery. We had a great tour, Meri was a marvellous guide. Eric our steward was fabulous he was just a great guy all around. Found the entertainment a little dated! I'm 66 and it was set up for people past my age group so I missed some of the Revue Style shows. The comedians and the magician was good though. My wife was not thrilled with the music in the bars. The old crones don't stay up late so they should play music in Skywalker to fit the crowd. She also felt the steel drum player was overused. However she loved The Voice. THE COFFEE WAS TERRIBLE. We like room service early in the morning with coffee but what they brought us was not worthy of the name COFFEE. This is a big bugaboo with me, I do not want to go and buy coffee when I wake up. Many others were frustrated also. It never used to be this bad. I always sail Princess and found this boat to be as good as the others. The disembarking was a smooth process, we walked off with our bags at 7:45 as they said we would. We were at the airport half an hour later. Read Less

Embarkation: Arrived around mid day. Checked in and immediately walked on board. Excellent! Food: Buffet was generally good with a wide selection of dishes. Omelettes at breakfast were excellent. Pub lunch - servers were confused and made many mistakes. The fish on the fish and chips plate were a bit greasy. Dinner - The first two night the service was terrible. The assistant waiter seemed to be completely confused - could not find wines on the wine list and in one case gave a guest a chardonnay instead of a moscato and when told by the guest that it definitely was not Moscato, argued with the guest that it was. Plates were put in front of the wrong guests, extremely slow with long wait between courses. On the second night, spoke with the head waiter and told him everything that was going wrong. I also pointed out that we were a group of 12 and my wife was the travel agent and some of the group were first time cruisers who may become last time cruisers if this went on. I was very polite with he head waiter and he promised he would fix it. The next evening, the service was what I would expect from Princess and improved exponentially from the first two nights. The head waiter had added an additional experienced waiter to mentor and keep track of the two other waiters. I thanked him for fixing the issue. Despite the initial service issue, the food in the dining room was excellent throughout, I would suggest to those who think the food wasn't good, if your palette is used to fried chicken and meatloaf then eat in the buffet or try a different type of vacation. Entertainment: For what little we saw it was generally good but a bit loud in the bars making conversation difficult. We all thought that and our age group ranged from 30's to 70. Ports: We did not do any excursions since most of us had been there before but we had a great time at teach port. Cabin: Some of us had mini-suites and the rest had balconies - all with the sip and sail package which included free total beverage package! Cabin steward was very good. No complaints about anything else. We all had a great time on this cruise and the first timers will definitely do it again! I gave 5 stars because although there was an initial issue with dinner service it was fixed promptly and to our satisfaction. If something is wrong, don't wait until the end of the cruise and then post a negative review - get it fixed and if it's not fixed, then post your negative review! Read Less

I thought the cruise was amazing! I’ll agree Carnival could improve the buffet. Dining room was great, Guys burgers are amazing. The staff work there tails off and keep a smile on their faces and always willing to go the extra mile. Our wait staff was amazing Walter was fantastic! The cruise director is fun and keeps the party going day and night! The ports were so fun! I believe you make your own fun and do the things you enjoy and if you stick to that your trip will be amazing too. The ship is immaculate, there constantly cleaning. My only complaint would be the deli where the sandwiches are superb, the problem is the line is long and never movers by no fault of the poor guy behind the counter since there’s only one guy back there you need 3 - 4 people working back there. Also maybe keep the deli, Guys and the barbecue place open longer. But for the most part.we were 9 people on the cruise and we all had an amazing time!!!! We can’t wait to cruise Carnival again! Read Less

I am Elite on Princess (40 sailings) but wanted a bit more excitement than they offer and I have frequently sailed on Celebrity. I've sailed on Norwegian (Pearl, Epic, Gateaway and Bliss) four times. I was traveling with a group of 16 and the group wanted a fun-time with a younger environment so we selected the Bliss. I was most excited to sail on the Bliss. The Bliss is a beautiful ship with a wonderful observation area on 15, staterooms are beautiful, disembarkation and embarkation was the best of any cruise. The Bliss is very clean and the staff was wonderful. My stateroom was on deck 14 two floors below deck 16 which is often times referred to as the Lido deck on other ships. I could hear the music starting around 11:00 am and ending around 12:00 or later every evening. Never an opportunity for nap if you are a light sleeper-- music mostly all day and night. I experienced a squeaking/knocking sound coming from the sliding door for better than fours days before I called the Customer Service Desk which they repaid and sent a wonderful gift for any inconvenience this may have caused. I was not able to see any shows due to no open reservation (you have to make a reservation) or partake in the racing cars because they were booked up quickly or only late night appointments were available. The one treat that I love most on all Norwegian cruises is the coconut sherbet. To my disappointment they had no coconut sherbet. The food on the buffet was average although the oxtails and chicken gumbo was outstanding. Seating in what they call the Garden Cafe was a bit of a challenge during lunch and breakfast but you would eventually find a place as on most ships. The Fitness Center was outstanding with wonderful hours. You can get on the treadmill at 6:00 am. With all side I would sail again staying on a lower deck away from deck 16 and making reservation as soon as i get on the ship. Read Less

We chose the Magical Christmas markets to see Vienna, Salzburg, and Nürnberg, to enjoy some Christkindlmarkts, and to acquaint ourselves with river cruising. Ama has work to do. The cruise administration as we approached our travel date was disrupted by the Woolsey Fire in the San Fernando Valley, where Ama is headquartered. Ama needs better contingency plans if they are going to stay in the Valley. Fires in Calabasas, from my youth in Woodland Hills, are NOT uncommon. We were impacted by the water levels of the Danube. Our cruise was shortened from Nürnberg to Vilshofen, and, after we boarded, to Passau. We missed one of the best Christkindlmarkts in all Europe. I recognize Ama is a hotelier, a restaraunteur, and a ship line, but they need better decisionmaking on how to make the traveller's experience the best possible. That includes leaving ship if need be. The sailing plan? OMW. On Monday, for reasons known only to Ama, we left Vienna for Tulin. Guess what? Everything was closed. DUMB. Then, at 11 at night, we sailed back to Vienna to berth in the nest of ships again. Better to have spent another day in Vienna, and help us see more of that great city. Speaking of bad calls, let's talk about Sunday. There were three ships abreast at Handelskai that morning. Three sets of busses, and no one on shore to direct us to which group of busses. We showed our color coded ticket, and the guide said "This is your bus." Welllllll .... no it wasn't. It was the bus of another ship to Bratislava. You need passports for that tour. Turned out a third of the people on that bus were from our ship, misdirected to it instead of the bus for the Eisenstadt tour. It's late fall, early winter. It was raining most days, so the upper outdoor deck was unusable. The lounge was a hospitable place, with free coffee and tea at all hours. I discuss our cabin elsewhere. The dining? Superb. An advantage Ama has over Windstar and their ocean sailings is the free wine and beer at mealtime. I liked that! Service? Superb. Yes, I paid the expected crew's gratuity, and then some, but I also gave some to my cabin housekeeper and two of the waiters. They deserved it. Vienna and Salzburg are grand cities, worthy of much more time than the cruise could provide. We will be back. Overall, this COULD HAVE BEEN A FIVE BUBBLE CRUISE. The administrative and logistics decision cost it points. Read Less