Great Vacation!

We live in NJ and left from the NY Port. It was the easiest, most stress free check in ever. I kept saying is that it? We are all set? And everyone was like yes... start enjoying yourself. We took a lyft there, got out, they took our bags, we showed our boarding passes and walked right through. Our luggage was delivered within i think 2-3 hours of boarding and our Stewart, Hamir, put the bags in the room for us.

There were plenty of options which was amazing. So much to say, where to start.... Java Cafe'! Absolutely everything i tried was amazing from the donuts, cupcakes, cookies and spiked coffees...this was a must stop daily. Very friendly staff. One downside, it cost extra but we knew that going into it so not a biggy for us, what was an unexpected downside was the line. Unfortunately, as friendly and great as the staff was, there was sometimes just one person working with a line out the door and she did the best she could given the circumstances but you waited quit some time. Another thing for us is that they had no Irish Cream on our trip, which i'm sure is not the norm but we were dying to try a spiked Irish cream coffee and never had a chance to. Breakfast was always great everywhere but we honestly did the breakfast buffet the first day and learned from that point that it was just way too crowded so we would go to lucky bowls for a quick delicious easy breakfast or just have our java spiked coffee and start drinking til lunch. We did discover towards the end of our trip that for a less crowded more relaxed experience the Sunshine sit down option was the way to go. The french toast and omelets were amazing. For Lunch we mostly ate at guy's burger joint which was heaven or at Lucky bowls. Guy's burger line could get long however it moved really fast and lucky bowls was a small Asian spot that offered only 3 different options so there was rarely a line. The pizza spot, which was 24hrs, was amazing but also always a line so you had to mentally be prepared to wait. The deli was good as well and line was fairly short the times we went. We never got around to trying guys bbq spot which were disappointed about. We mostly ate the buffet when it opened for late night snack and everything we had was good. There were plenty of options. During the breakfast and lunch rush the lines were long and with so many other options we just opted to not wait. For Dinner we had late table reservations daily. It was nice to have the same table and servers each day. Food here was hit or miss. Some nights it was great, some choices were not so good, however the best thing was that you could just order something else if you didn't like your choice because it was all included. Our servers were great. We were in the Radiance Lower Level table 107, in a corner, nice and quiet and Mario our main server was fantastic. The whole team was but I only caught his name. Again for late night snacking, pizza was the way to go and the 24hr soft serve ice cream. (Yeah i gained 10lbs, be prepared!) We also ate at the specialty steakhouse restaurant and service and food were great. We wanted to try the Bonsai spot which was open late but never got around to that either. There was just so much to eat in such little time. Now for the drinks, we pre-purchased the cheers package. This is a hit or miss. We are drinkers when on vacation however, i do not think we got our money's worth because we were also so exhausted that some days we just couldn't drink like we usually would. Overall the package is great because it included the java cafe drinks but there were some downfalls. I understand waiting 5 minutes for an alcoholic beverage but i couldn't get a jack neat and a club soda to wash it down at the same time. I don't like my drinks mixed and because it is so hot you want to get a nice refreshing drink while getting your alcohol beverage and i think that was just unnecessary to stand there and wait the 5 minutes. That is my only real complaint. Our favorite bar tender was Veronica. She always took care of us with a smile and went the extra mile. Suggested different drinks, made conversation and was truly a nice person. We went to her every day. She was located at the bar by the pizza in the back pool area.

Giving this a 3 because there were great options however I can not speak to any of them as we never got around to trying them.

Again lots of options, we went to only one comedy show and caught another show about how well you know your spouse. Both were entertaining! Packed house, we went late so we had to stand. But regardless had a great time. The Redfrog Pub was a nice hang out but when we were there service was slow, it was hard to get a drink at the bar so we would get our drinks from Alchemy bar across the way and then come back and enjoy the music from the band. 90's/80's throw backs were my favorite. Band was on point, all were friendly, sounded great and really engaged the crowd. Scott the flying scott's man was very entertaining, he engaged all guest all the time. We took a back seat to allot of events as we were just tired and needed to relax but everyone looked like they were having a blast all the time. We went to one of the clubs one night for 90's night and it took us back to our 20's. We had a great time.

Again our specific go to people were great and deserve a 5 plus however not everyone was outgoing and with a smile so for that reason only i rated a 4 overall. However again our waiter for our main dinning was Mario at the Radiance lower level and he was great. Friendly, knew our names, got to know our drinks quickly and very attentive to our needs and request. Our room steward, Hamir was also very friendly, respectful, did a great job keeping our room tidy and replenished with towels/water etc. And as i mentioned in the drinks area, Veronica from the back bar by the pizza station, went above and beyond! Also the staff the Alchemy Bar, which i didn't get the Ladies name unfortunately, she was awesome as well. And this bar was our favorite inside spot to hang because of her and her delicious drinks ( my favorite was the Caribbean Manhattan). Plus the vibe was on point. Classy but relaxed and welcoming area.

The ship just went through a major renovation and i'm not sure how it looked previously however i personally thought it was still a little out dated with its decor in some areas and there was a musty smell around the eating areas. However all common areas were very clean.

The cabin was dated to us as well. Maybe we went in with higher expectations due to the recent renovation but the bathroom although huge because it was a handicapped unit, it was dingy. The toilet and sink had stains, at first i thought it was dirty but our fantastic steward cleaned it for me immediately with me there and it was clean, just stained. The fixtures; toilet paper holder, mirror by sink and shower hand held holder were all falling off the wall, you could literally see the screws. The balcony was smaller than i expected and out dated. Rust stains on the walls and there was a piece of tape holding the lock to the adjoining balcony. It was our first balcony experience and unfortunately or fortunately for next time it wasn't worth it to me so i will probably not pay the extra expense. We sat out there twice out of the week. Although i guess, it was nice to have the natural light and see what was going on outside when docked. A plus was the bed and pillow were so comfy, we actually enjoyed just relaxing and sleeping in a few days.

We did the express disembarkation. We got up early, got ready, went to have breakfast and then came back just in time to get our bags and get out by 8:30. Our time was set for 9-915 but things were moving smoothly and our deck was called by 845 so we only spent 15 minutes waiting in the hall. The line to get off was a little long, but smooth and moved quickly. Scott, the cruise director, did a great job the night before informing everyone of the process and kept us updated every 10 minutes keeping things smooth and easy and entertaining at the same time.