This was our first Royal Caribbean cruise. I choose this cruise because we were able to drive to Baltimore in a day and didn't have to stress over flights or anything like that. It cost a little more than our previous cruises but figured it was worth it to try a RC cruise. We have previously cruised 3 times with Carnival.
The boat itself is showing its age despite having renovations done in 2005. Public areas were clean though. Restrooms were hits and misses. Didn't make use of pool or hot tubs.
The embarkation was awful - the line ups were SO long. We must have waited a good 1.5 hrs or so to get through security and check in. We've been on the Carnival Dream where there was about a 1000 more passengers and it didn't take as long to embark.
Lots of storage space. Cabins had a seating area with love seat and a curtain to divide space so that you can turn on lights after kids are asleep.