Not a ship for seniors

There were highs and lows to this ship experience. First, the highs. Price for a balcony cabin was very reasonable. THe cabin was large and bright.The weather was warm enough on five of the seven days to sit out on the balcony. Embarking and disembarking was handled very efficiently.There is a Serenity area for folks over 21 years old with lots of seating under cover and out in the open plus a pool and hot tub. Service everywhere was excellent. Staff is very helpful and efficient. They work hard to call you by name. We had four days of sunny weather which made you forget the snow ice and cold at home. Really enjoyed the wine and food pairing event even at a cost of $15 per person. The ship was very clean. The ok elements. Food was plentiful, on the whole good but not very creative or interesting. Fat people, of which there were many on this cruise, were in hog heaven with the wide variety of foods at the buffet. All cruise ships offer this buffet. Announcements couldn't always be understood because of music in the background or just the high volume. Shore excursions were fairly priced. The entertainment was ok but the volume everywhere was so high that it made it impossible to enjoy the shows with lots of singing. The library was a joke. Just three cabinets of books and the library was only open two hours a day. The computers were in the same room so the library wasn't a quiet area for reading. 

Our most negative comment is the decor of the ship. The ship had low ceilings, was dark and often felt like you were in a cave ( except for the cabins). The ornate carvings everywhere-including on the ceiling- were over the top. The large Italian fake art on the walls everywhere wase very distracting. The public spaces were very noisy at all times. It was like everyone was on a speaker phone . We have been on seven other cruises and they were all much better experiences than this one was. I think this ship is geared to younger adults who like to drink and party a lot.

Surprisingly, there were lots of young families with smal lchildren on this cruise. It would be interesting to hear their reviews. For us, this ship and we were mismatched.