We chose this cruise because the ship moved to where we could drive. Have sailed from New York and the one port is not enough for me. So it came to NOLA. Should come to Galveston and we would sail more often. Shows were great. Burn the Floor is the most interesting dance show I have seen on a cruise ship in 30 years. I was a dancer in my youth and the precision, lifts, ballroom dancing and Latin dancing is phenomenal. I saw the show twice and they dance at 100 percent as if they were auditioning for Broadway. The Rock of Ages show was campy, raunchy, punny, sexy, funny and I loved it. Flip the comedian was quite funny--just wish they had more completely different shows. I see some comedians who have enough material to do three completely different shows in a week. They probably should have more than two comedians for an 11 day cruise. Syd's Pourhouse had a brand new rock band. They bill as classic rock, but only about 20% are true classic rock. Some is pop music and I would have preferred more Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Journey, AC/DC and the like---but it still was good. Tenors of Rock on the Seas was good and Barricade Boysj rocked it with Bohemian Rhapsody. LOVED that song with the four of them. So, all in all, I loved the entertainment. The bar service was excellent everywhere we went. Li outside of Syd's was awesome and we had him on the Dawn too I believe. We had a newbie that joined the cruise from Celebrity in the Atrium bar and he did great as well. They are awesome bartenders throughout the ship. And my steward, Freddy. Perfect!!! Did the Ropes course which was fun and "walked the plank". Wich they would have had the camera working on that. We ate at Cagneys twice and it was good. Loved the pork belly! Ate at Bistro twice and it was excellent. Got my fix of escargot twice. Their tenderloin and sole were both delicious. Ate at La Cucina and sadly, it was not good. The appetizer of Fettucine with mushroom was should have cooked a bit more and the sauce was thin and very little. Also barely a mushroom to be found. The seabass was not edible unfortunately. I had just had fresh caught seabass the day before on shore and it was delicious. The sea bass was so fishy and the side was a boiled plain potato. The Manhattan Room had dancing and a band so that was a huge plus. The Burn the Floor dancers entertained at dinnertime several times. I LOVED that. The size of the theater requires the ship to offer multiple showings. I believe they lost the balcony due to the Speigel Tent. I am still not a fan of making reservations, though if you want to guarantee shows, you will need to make them for the most popular shows.

The ship's interior is not like many other cruises hips. For example, The bistro actually looks like a bistro and they use brick throughout. There is not a 6 plus high atrium that you see in many ships. it is only 2 decks high and maybe 3 in the center where the casino is on deck 7. Smoke in the casino is unbearable in some areas of the casino is a snall slots area. I like to play slots occasionally, but I had to avoid that area as it was too smoky for me. Spice H20 had parties each night, though we only stopped by for a couple of minutes.

Our cruise director was Armen. He has a great voice for announcements, but his personality in the games was a little abrasive, "that's enough, that's enough, that;s enough, that's enough, no touching, no touching, no touching " etc. in some of the games. Kind of bossy I guess. I know that job is hard as he has to be everywhere on the ship, but he should be more friendly and it should look effortless if you are doing it right. I still think he did a good job; he just needs to laugh and interact a little more with guests. Read more