It is a beautiful ship and if you are after a resort style holiday that's what you get. If you'd prefer the sounds and smells of the ocean I'd be looking at something else. I much preferred Voyager or Radiance.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarking was a breeze! Dropped our bags and because of our crown and anchor status we were ushered straight through. We only had to queue to board the ship, after check in and customs, but that was a constantly moving line.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
I enjoyed the food everywhere we ate. It was always fresh and hot. I particularly enjoyed the cafe in Two70
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
My husband enjoyed the idly but it's not like you see in the videos. There is someone holding on to you the whole time so you don't "fly" and you're only in there for a minute.
The North Star gives you great views for photos. My advice would be to book or go on a shore day so that you don't have long queues
I was disappointed that you have to pay for air hockey ect. I think that's a bit mean.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Some were brilliant like Pixels and Live Love Legs but the comedians and magicians are a bit old hat.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Service was impeccable
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
I found the common areas to be clean. I didn't like the layout of the ship. I felt it was like they'd taken a normal layout and chopped it up to make it seem like there's more. The theatre at one end of the ship and two70 at the other but both places for shows. Four restaurants for dining rooms where on other ships two floors of one dining room seemed to work fine for a la carte or my time or for a la carte or buffet breakfasts and lunch. Windjammer and the Solarium bistro were much the same except for the extras you can pay for in the Solarium.
I also didn't like that there were so few open deck areas. These spaces are now taken up by balcony cabins which I understand is something people want but I like a protected deck, a deck chair and a book or sitting out on the deck after the show with a wine, a Black Sea and a million stars. I guess I felt like I was in a resort that was taking me somewhere when what I wanted was a ship.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
The cabin was just what I expected with the added bonus of a virtual window. Comfortable, clean and kept beautifully by our attendant. Having a kettle and fridge was really good!
I don't think it coped with the amount of people coming off the ships. There were two when we arrived. The queues for things like the gondola were horrific. We'd bought our tickets online but still had to wait in the line so we didn't go. I heard people saying later that they were in the queue for over an hour.
We had booked and paid for a train trip from Napier. Two weeks before the cruise they told us there had been a mistake with our booking and we were cancelled. I rang the station in NZ and booked us on a different train trip. A couple of days before we sailed this was also cancelled. I was told this was because the cruise lines had bought all the seats. Royal Caribbean was charging nearly double what I paid online so sadly we didn't do a lot in Napier.
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