pacruiser63

Food is excellent and very plentiful. Service was very good. Atmosphere is lacking. Samba takes over the space that during the day is used for a buffet. If you love steak Samba is for you, if you want a romantic elegant fine dining experience one of the other restaurants would be a better choice

One thing to remember is that sometimes the discounts are applied automatically and sometimes you have to ask for them. I think the reason is that some discounts you might want to save for later, e.g, instead of taking the 2 for one drink on a $5 beer by the pool, you might want to use it at dinner on a $15 glass of wine

There are a few partially obstructed Boardwalk balconies. If you have a Boardwalk balcony on the top deck and it is very close to the back of the ship when you look sideways out the back of the ship, there is a support beam that blocks a portion of the view out the back of the ship. The view of the Aqua theater and the Boardwalk itself is not obstructed from these rooms.

How is the Courtyard by Marriott?

 

We stayed there and liked it. Shuttle from the airport and to the cruise terminal was convenient. The Bistro was more for light meals, but that was OK for us since we we knew we would be eating lots for the next week. Pool was decent. We killed a little time the night before the cruise shopping at Outdoor World which has a huge outdoor/clothing/sports store that is almost next to the hotel. We didn't go to the beach, not sure how far away it was