Ever since hubby went on his first cruise two years ago, he's been constantly on the lookout for bargain cruises that might fit our budget. (We're based in Asia, and the steep air fare to/from the embarkation/disembarkation ports is an important factor in calculating overall cost.) A big plus was that this cruise was long on sea days, which are both busy with onboard activities, and relaxing. The ship was repositioning from Los Angeles to Buenos Aires, but we sailed only on the first leg (16 nights), from L.A. to Santiago. The itinerary allowed us a taste of two metropolises new to us: Lima (2 days) and our disembarkation city Santiago.

We didn't go on any ship's shore excursions, choosing instead to spend our port time walking around the areas where the shuttle bus dropped us off. Actually, we had bought the "Salsa and Salsa" excursion for Cabo San Lucas, but we were informed the day before that it had been canceled. No reason was given for the cancelation.

This was the first time we chose a mini-suite class cabin, and we very much enjoyed the larger sitting area and especially the bathtub shower instead of the tiny shower stall we've endured up till now. The mattress and bed linens were extremely comfortable. Each of the three table lamps had a built-in USB connector. There's a thermostat control in the sitting area and another in the "bedroom" section. A second large flat-panel TV is in the sitting area, but unfortunately there's no on-demand video. Read more