A newbie perspective:

This was our first ever cruise, so take it for what it's worth.

Going into this cruise, we had high expectations based on all the excellent trip reports on this and other boards.

1st of all, we received no champaigne or chocolates; it even took us 3 days to receive our AMEX shipboard credit. I don't think this had anything to do w/ Radisson.

The meals were disappointing. We were expecting some really exciting seafood being that access to fresh fish in Tahiti would be limitless. Every seafood dish I ordered was bland and dry. Thankfully they were liberal w/ the bernaise sauce. After the first few attempts at a seafood main meal, I decided to just order the salmon from the simple menu as an appetizer. It was good, not great. On the other hand, I found the appetizers and desserts a good redeeming factor to the meals. Don't get me wrong, the meals were good; on par with a decent restaurant. They were just not up to the standards we've come to expect from higher end resort restaurants. We were assured from most of our table mates that the meals were not up to par to other Radisson ships.

That said, the dining EXPERIENCE was excellent. The wine was above expectations, and the wait staff made it all worthwhile. Our waiters and wine stewards were personable and knew our preferences by day 2. Of course, our table seemed to always be the life of the dining room. I think we closed down the restaurant every night!!

We were satisfied with our room. The amenities were refreshed daily if needed, and the room was always spotless. Even the fruit was kept fresh even though we never used it (except for a Suzette incident we won't get in to on this post!!)

Late night activities and entertainment were great. One suggestion would be to utilize Siglo more often in La Palette. They were excellent. The bartenders remembered our preferences early on and were always happy to oblige our requests. The Casino staff was great. The Casino rules were not very friendly. Don't go on this ship expecting any kind of good returns on your gambling money.

The scuba diving was excellent. Bora Bora was one of the best dives we have ever done.

Of course the real highlight for us on the cruise was being with all the LCT'ers. We fit in like a glove. I feel like we made lifelong friends on this cruise. I would take this cruise again or any other cruise with this group. This is really a special group here.