Embarkation: We arrived at the pier around 11:30 and were on the ship by 12:15. It was a very smooth process. Upon arriving on the ship you are greeted with a line of white gloved crew members and one of them escorted you directly to your cabin. You don't have to hunt for your cabin. We then went to the buffet for a lunch and had plenty of time to explore the ship before the lifeboat drill.

The Ship: The Opera being new is very clean. All the public areas are large and very bright and clean with plenty of seats. The public rest rooms are large and were always very clean. Our cabin wasn't very large , but has plenty of storage space. The bathroom for a new ship was rather small. The shower was small and didn't give a normal size person room to turn around. The safe was hidden behind the mirror and was awhile before we found where it was. Our cabin was very clean and comfortable. We didn't get a towel animal or chocolate left on our pillow at night, but we did get fresh fruit left in our cabin every night. I found the daily program wasn't as informative as found on other ships and it was slipped under your door instead of being left on your bed. Itinerary: This wasn't the best times and places to be. We were in Old San Juan from 5PM -11 PM. This didn't give you much daylight time to explore the island . Then we went to St Maarten. Again we were only there from 9AM - 3 PM. We took a nice tour of the island, but didn't have any time to shop at the end of the tour. Had to be back on the ship by 2:30. Then they took us to La Romana in the Dominican Republic. We were there 12 hours and unless you went on a tour, there was NO place to walk to or go. The private Island of Cayo Levantado was the most wonderful place to go. It was the best part of the entire cruise.

Food: The meals were not the best I have ever had. This was my 8th cruise and the worst food as far as selection goes. Being Italian cruise line, you get pasta every night, but the steaks weren't the best. The dining room is under staffed. Our waiter who worked very hard had to wait on you, do drinks, water etc. Most of the time we didn't get a refill o water and Never had a bar person come around for service. Unless you went to the dining room with a drink, which we learned to do, you didn't get one. The second formal night they did give you free champagne and they had flaming baked Alaska. The hours for breakfast at the buffet was over by 9:30 AM We had pizza that was excellent. They actually made it there. It was fresh pizza. Entertainment: The shows at night were the best I've seen on a cruise ship. The entire entertainment crew were just the best. The comedy team of young people were very entertaining before the main shows. They were so funny they made tears come down my face. Read more