Magnificent, Marvelous & Relaxing Mediterranean Cruise

Easiest embarkation we've ever experienced! Boarded in Civitavecchia. No lines! By completing all of the information requested online prior to embarkation (Check-in) it took less than 15 minutes to get from the bus to being onboard! Greeted with Champagne! Impressive and seemless! We were able to get into our room before 1:00 PM and bags came shortly after. Our bags were not placed in our room - we saw them in the hall and ended up grabbing them ourselves after waiting for an hour after seeing them.

Bartenders and Servers were all upbeat and very fast! Very little waiting. The main dining room and Solarium were our favorites. The cafe on the Boardwalk was our go-to for a quick breakfast sandwich, fruit and yogurt when we weren't up for a big breakfast. Room service was very good. Be sure to order exactly what you need (ie: butter for your toast!) There's a fee for room service but not the food. Sign up for the drink program when there is a discount available prior to check-in. The Bionic Bar was a lot of fun to use and watch! There's a Starbucks onboard and the lines are very short. The pizza place on Deck 5 was fabulous. Love the make-your-own pizza! Many options for any taste. Had Lobster in Solarium one night - 3 tails with Mashed Potato and green beans. I had the drink package so there was a discount becuase the Lobster comes with a glass of wine so the entire meal was $17.99 and you have a choice of several ways to prep the Lobster. We did the grilled and it was scrumptious! Desserts are really good all over the ship. Cheesecake in the Main Dining room for dinner is HUGE and wonderful! Solarium has an omlette station for breakfast and a pasta station for lunch.

So much to do! I HIGHLY recommend boarding as early as you can and taking the time to tour the ship from top to bottom. We wanted to do rock-cllimbing but never had the chance becuase it wasn't open when we wanted to go. There are two walls but the hours they are open are limited. We watched the FloRider Experience which seemed fun. Took a Yoga Class and worked out in the Fitness Center. Good selection of equipment. Even when it was busy we didn't feel overcrowded. Towels and water are available in the fitness center. RIDE THE ABYSS! So much fun! Screamed like a kid! Zip line didn't seem to be too popular after the first day. (Too short of a ride) There's Laser Tag (which was always packed with kids so we did not try) and an Ice Skating Rink. Wanted to ride the Carousel but it was never open. :( Putt Putt course is very small and was always packed at night. Too hot during the day to try. The basketball courts were always busy with activity. Everyone was having a great time on the waterslides as well. LOTS to do depending on your mood. The BIGGEST downfall of the ship is that the pools are TOO SMALL. The main pool was PACKED with kids and not enjoyable except when we were onboard and everyone else was on excursions. It's about 4 1/2 feet deep. Has a nice area around the outter edge to sit on but kids were always splashing and running around it. Solarium has a VERY VERY VERY small pool. It has glass in the front and a sitting area down the center and around the edges. Very cool view out of the front of the ship. However, at one point I counted 45 people in it and it was like being in a crowded bathtub. Very dissapointing for such a beautiful and large ship. There's also a kids area with fountains and its more of a wadding pool so the kids that could swim were in the main pool. There are a TON of Hot Tubs. They're pretty good size and there's even a few that were open at night which was nice. (These have TVs above them!) The views from the hot tubs that hang off the side of the ship are really cool especially pulling out of port. Hot tubs were not overcrowded and were very relaxing. The ones in Solarium were the best for relaxing due to kids under 16 not being allowed in them. The ones on the main deck give parents the ability to enjoy them and keep an eye on their children in the main pool which is nice. LOTS to do! Highly recommend trying as much as you can! I'm rating this section as excellent becuase of the amount there is to do and see but I'd rate the pools as poor overall.

Overall the service & staff were absolutely wonderful. Keep in mind that this is a HUGE ship so you're not getting the interaction and attention that you would on a smaller ship. However, everyone did a remarkable job of making us feel welcome. Guest Services really has a great system for being able to keep the lines down and address your needs quickly and effectively. There's two stations for setting up and issues with VOOM (internet packages). The NextCruise area for booking next cruises was simple, efficient and easy. THe Photo Gallery is VERY much improved! (No more printed pics to search for!) Simply plug in your stateroom number and swipe your Sea Pass to see every picture taken! LOTS of opportunities for that throughout the ship. (NO long lines!) We didn't see our room steward until the second day aboard. I was a little letdown by that especially when we had to get our own luggage out of the center hall. He never stopped by to ask if we had picked up our luggage or to apologize. We only had towel creatures (love them!) twice during the 7 days which was kind of a bummer. However, our room was always clean and when we requested extra towels they arrived very quickly. We LOVED our Waiters in the main dining room! Shoutout to Ni and Viptee! Made our dining experience absolutely delightful! Their recommendations on wine with dinner and the best meals each day were spot on! We really enjoyed everything. We had anytime dining and found out that you should still make a reservation. (You'll see there are lines for a few things for those who have reservations and those who don't). Thank you guest services for recommendng we set up our dinner reservation for the length of the cruise. When we decided to change the date twice we did so right in the main dining room podiums and it was very easy and fast! The staff was wonderful and was able to keep us with our fave waiters! Bartenders were super friendly and fast! Always rememebered our drinks and names and made us feel welcome!

What an amazing ship! It's a small city at sea! VERY CLEAN and well-maintained. A++++ There are hand washing stations going into Windjammer and also hand sanitizer stations located conveniently located throughout the ship.