dswan212

This was my first time cruising.  We were a group of 8 friends and had a blast.  We were initially only offered "my time" dining which was a total bust.  On the 2nd night of not being able to get a reservation and/or a table on stand-by, they moved us up to the Grande dining room with a set time and table.  From that night on our dinner experience was a dream.  Our wait staff was amazing, funny, accommodating and totally on the ball.  Those who ordered drinks with dinner were automatically brought those drinks from the first night moving forward.

Our room porter was amazing, a friendly, gracious man who did a wonderful job keeping our room from looking like the boat had been capsized!

The ship is huge, and beautifully maintained, with so many things to do. The shows were fun, we saw Mama Mia, Ocean Aria, Ice Games and Blue Planet.  We also watched a good number of contestant driven (cruisers) shows, which were a blast!  Hit on the slots in the casino, and visited a number of venues for activities.

My only two criticisms are the sales push on the ship for spa services and pay restaurants and the lack of free egress.  I didn't appreciate spending all that money for the cruise so that Royal Caribbean could look to get further into my wallet.  You couldn't leave any of the spaces freely.  All egress was through a funneled space.  You exited the theaters onto a bridge/elevator banks and they were invariably packed and slow moving.