Just returned from our cruise on AOS to Florida and Bahamas. We are a family of 4 - me, husband, and 2 teenage sons 16, and 14. This was our 5th cruise with RC after previously sailing on Liberty in 2008 for our 10th anniversary, then Freedom, Oasis and Allure over the years. We have been very happy with all our previous RC experiences and this one met and even exceeded our previous cruises in some ways. We initially thought of sailing on Harmony out of FL, but then chose this ship because it left from Bayonne, NJ and was recently refurbished adding the water slides. Being from the Philadelphia area meant we could get to the ship in 90 minutes and save tons of money on airfare so we went for it. I was concerned we would miss some of the amazing features the larger ships have (Central park, Water theater, 2 flowriders, Dazzles, etc) but while those are awesome, we didn't really miss them as much as I thought!

The biggest thing on this ship that was such a positive experience for us was the people. As to be expected, many of our fellow passengers were from New York (many from Long Island), New Jersey, New England and some from Philly. The ones we encountered and connected with were just so positive, cool and FUN! Some of our most fun happened in the Duck and Dog Pub with Carlo playing songs and the whole crowd singing along at the top of our lungs ("Alice Next door", and "American Pie" were song favorites!) and dancing in the Viking Lounge late night with other guests. The Quest adult game on this show was the best we've ever experienced on any ship mainly because of the guests - Everyone got so into the silliness of it to an extreme we never saw before! My husband loves the adult sport competitions like volleyball and dodgeball and these were hugely popular with passengers of all adult ages and very well attended on this ship...and highly competitive! Maybe its a carry over from the competitiveness of the professional sports teams in our area of the country but one of the crew members mentioned these games were some of the best they've ever seen.

A huge bonus this cruise was that my sons made friends with kids their ages the first night at the teen dodgeball event, and they roamed with them the entire week at different RC teen events or making their own fun. In fact, I rarely sat with our kids except at our mandatory family dinner in the MDR. They and their friends were everywhere together and because many kids didn't use their phones on the ship (we don't do the internet - chance to unplug!!) they actually TALKED and formed friendships fast as the week went along. Now that we're home they are still all engaging with each other, and planning a "reunion". That's priceless. Read more