We has an inside stateroom on the Upper (6th) deck. For the price $549pp it was amazing! The comforter, pillows, and sheets were lovely and soft. The room was plenty big and the bathroom was actually surprisingly big.
There was only ONE outlet (and I had ignored the suggestion to bring a power strip!) I found no outlet in the bathroom at all.
There was plenty of closet space and all six bags fit under the bed easily.
We ate at the more formal dining room (Monet) every night of the cruise. The quality of the food was very good. Keep in mind that you're eating mass-produced foods so there are going to be sub-par qualities and above-par qualities. For instance: nothing was crispy, ever and the creme brulee was hot throughout. The meat was where the real value was! I took a galley tour and spotted their guide to cooking meat. What they show as medium-rare is what I would call medium so ORDER YOUR STEAK RARE is you like you meat not brown throughout. The waiters were so very comfortable with my sending back over cooked meat - what a joy not to feel like a jerk!
The ship employees are almost exclusively international. We noticed lots of Croatians and Phillipinos but I heard there were folks from over 50 countries! Accents were not a problem ever.
We toured the galley which was an anti-climax but worth doing.
I love the Lido deck! The music was tolerable and NO KIDS! We camped on the deck chairs Monday and Tuesday, hopped from pool to tub to pizza to chair again. This was the best part of the cruise.
We enjoyed tea-time greatly. The chicken salad and salmon sandwiches were delicate and lovely and the sweets were great as well. The tea selection was limited to six or eight teas - I had Earl Grey and Darjeeling and my DH had Orange herbal.
The coffee on board is awful but the iced tea is so bad it make the coffee look good! Bring tea bags if you require palatable iced tea. There are coffee bars on the Promenade and the Lido decks with Starbucks type and priced coffee.
We attended the Mardi Gras party on Tuesday. This is every Tuesday and I highly suggest it. It is NOT COOL in any way but has the distinct feeling of summer camp with booze and this is a good quality indeed! Drink heavily and quickly.
Jamaica was lovely! We were dropped off at the first shopping area which held out attention for about 3 minutes. We decided to walk to the Doctors Cave beach (Sunset Beach was closed according to the lady at the debarkation area).
Doctors Cave was a beautiful beach (an ex-pat said it was the prettiest in all of Jamaica...well....it was nice to hear!)
There were only tourists there - no locals.
We lunched at the pork pit (only locals).
We walked all over with no trouble. We left out wedding rings and passports on the ship to be careful but it was a non-issue. I was offered a lot of drugs and even got to look at a photo album of a marijuana plantation! Upon returning to the ship through security my husbands genitals were extensively patted down (over his shorts) to look for drugs.
Grand Cayman was wonderful also. We visit the sting rays which is a must do! They are like cats or golden retrievers who want a tasty treat.
Cozumel was amazing as usual. The snorkeling was sadly much worse than last time I was there 8 years ago. the water was still sparkling in ten colors of blue and the fish are beautiful! We saw an octopus and a sea turtle as well.
Over all the cruise exceeded my expectations. I was truly able to relax.
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