I traveled with a friend who is a cruise travel agent and a group of about 35 other friends who usually do at least one cruise a year. The agent arranges the cruise, independent excursions and travel to and from the ship.
This is the first cruise I have done on a larger ship. My other cruises have been on Azamara and Paul Gaugin which are small all inclusive ships. I tried this because the price was good, there were friends to travel with and I was glad to get away from the cold. The size of the ship was overwhelming at first. We had one sea day and it was difficult to find a place at a pool. We preferred the quiet pool but did watch the "belly flop" contest at the main pool.
We diined together at the late setting. Some of the food was great, most was ok. Several evenings they had some kind of dining staff program that was disruptive since we were directly under a loud speaker and in an alcove. We could not see what was happening and it was difficult to enjoy our dinner with the commotion. The buffet was very busy for breakfast and lunch, most food was ok and there were a lot of choices. We did breakfast in the dining room several days and enjoyed it.
The cabin was larger than I expected and was in great shape. I was a little apprehensive after reading some of the reviews about dated décor. We had friends in adjacent cabins and had the balconies opened up so we could visit. Lots of storage, suitcases fit under the beds. The only complaint about the room was hard mattresses. It also would have been nice to have power outlets near the bed.