SteveH7

Embarkation was fast and convenient. Our cabin (8534) was about the same as any other balcony cabin we have been in (been on 11 cruises). Cabin Steward was excellent. The ship is very impressive. There were lots of activities and our granddaughters (ages 3 and 5) loved the activity center they had set up for them. This gave our daughter and her husband lots of breaks to enjoy the cruise as well with peace of mind that our babies were in excellent hands. The Mexican Rivierra ports were fun with lots of different excursion options. Debarkation was super fast. Parking at the Port of Los Angeles terminal was appropriately priced and very convenient. Now for the bad news: dining service was S... L... O... W... So slow that we often did not want to eat there. If you order a dessert, it will likely be 15 minutes until you see it. I would have hoped that we could have gone to the Windjammer as an alternative, but the food served there was pretty bad. I had read in customer reviews that the food was bad on this ship and approached it expecting that I'm not that picky and I will probably like it. But no, it really is not good. The two formal nights in the dining room were good though. First one had filet of beef (not filet mignon) which was like having a roast for dinner. My appetizer was shrimp cocktail which arrived as 4 tiny shrimp laying in a big bed of lettuce. It was ok, I noted how RCCL cost cutting measures had sure taken a hit here. On the next formal night we had prime rib and lobster, both of these were excellent. But on the other nights they served things like catfish, turkey, and pork which were ok, just not great. We did go to Chops one night and had a great meal. Real filet mignon like you used to get in the dining room on cruises 5-10 years ago. This costs an additional $25, but when presented with only mediocre food, it was necessary. No more chocolates on your pillow each night. RCCL must have calculated this cost and decided that the message these chocolates sent (we're special, you're special) was not worth it. So special or excellent can't really be said of what you get. We had a good cruise, but this was due to time well spent with our adult children and grandchildren on this beautiful and busy ship. I recommend people go into this with very low expectations for the food and they will have a good time. A hamburger is a hamburger and a hot dog is a hot dog. If you can live on those, you will have a good time.