Embarkation: We have the home port advantage as we are from the L.A. area. Driving from home to San Pedro took about 45 minutes. We arrived some time after 12:00 and it was crowed! Had to stop and fill out the Health form before we were in line. Long line, but we discovered the Latitudes line which was much shorter and faster. One nice touch was while we were in line they served pastries, juice, and hot chicken bouillon. By the time we sat down for lunch at Versailles, it was not even 1pm. Staff directed people to go to the Market Buffet for lunch but after we told them we wanted to go to the sit-down restaurant they did not hesitate to tell us where to go. While having lunch at the Versailles the PA system announced that all cabins were ready. That's where we headed after our relaxing lunch.

Cabin: First time in an inside cabin. Cabin was nice and clean. Definitely a little small but we managed. We did have a bit of sewage smell in the bathroom. A little spray of Chanel 5 fixed the problem. Plenty of closet and drawer space for the three of us. Wrote a note to tell the cabin steward our preference of the pull-down bunk bed instead of the under-the bed cot and it was done at turn-down service. We particularly liked the glass divider in the shower, the best shower of all the cruises we had been on. All in all, the cabin was kept up nicely each day. Ice bucket was filled twice a day. We had problems with the temperature control on the second night. We woke up feeling quite cold in the morning and the controller seemed to be stuck. Again, left a note for the steward and it was fixed when we came back from lunch.

Cabin steward: I suppose we were lucky? Our cabin steward introduced himself the first day. He knew our last name and always addressed us "Mr. and Mrs. ___." We saw him and his assistant many times every day and they always greeted us appropriately. They were always busy and usually worked past 8pm. We tipped them extra on Christmas day. Read more