OK. I'll admit that this is my first cruise. But the relatives with whom we traveled have a bunch of experience. They said this was their best cruise. Everything was clean, laid out well, and run very nicely.
When you think about it, a trip is made or lost by the people. The crew morale was great. Everyone was very helpful and friendly. Our room steward, Sutoyo, was the best! Our table staff, Eka and Yogi, were great. Even though the ship was overbooked and, as a result, a bit crowded, things ran very smoothly.
I'd encourage you to pay the extra for a balcony. We were in room 7012 ... the front of the ship, 7th deck. We ended being right under the bridge. Being an engineer, I standing on our balcony and look up at the bridge activity.
The ports were fun. We booked our own snorkel trip when we got off the boat in Cabo. The water was beautiful and warm. We could have skipped Mazatlan ... brown oceans and a dirty, depressed city. Vallarta was our favorite stop.
The entertainment was good. I wouldn't pay much to see the acts but for a free evening activity, it beat watching TV.
I ran the numbers and if we were to stay in a five star hotel, eat dinner each night at a five star restaurant and other meals out, and attend a show each night, we would have paid the same amount as our room. But by staying in a hotel, we would have missed out on all the ports!
All in all, it was a great trip