STATEROOMS: In my cabin, furnishings looked inexpensive but new. Towels were still new and thick, but bedding was so skimpy against the blast of cold from the air conditioning that I asked for an extra blanket. The cabin had a window, no TV and two bunks that fold out into beds much like bench seats on a train. With its tiny desk/dressing table, shallow closet and cramped shower, it was comfortable enough for one person, but would have been difficult for two. A standard cabin is 147 square feet -- more than 50 percent larger than mine -- and suites run up to 267 square feet.

AMENITIES: The pool deck has separate water sports areas for adults and kids. The adult pool is a small semicircle divided in half and has glass walls. There are also two jacuzzis.

The casino has slots, blackjack, roulette and a poker game where you play against the dealer instead of other players. There's a gym with four stationary bicycles and about six other pieces of equipment, all new. Treatment rooms in the spa are large and Spartan; they need some softening. Although an Internet cafe was promised, it won't be finished and ready for use for another two months.

JUST FOR KIDS: Instead of a swimming pool, kids get a cute pirate-themed play area with water only a few inches deep and a 180-foot water slide. Three children's clubs offer electronic games and activities aimed at three age groups.

DINING: When I booked the cruise about two weeks before departure, I was told that dining would be freestyle, with my choice of when and where. The ship, the agent said, had a main dining room, pool-deck buffet, Brazilian buffet, a trattoria and the Cove, an upscale, extra-fee restaurant.

But on boarding, I was told I had to make all dinner reservations then and there if I wanted to eat in the main dining room or Rio, the Brazilian buffet, each of which had two seatings. The Cove wasn't available.

Ryerson later told me that ''we learned early on that complete freestyle wasn't working'' -- that a big crush of people sometimes arrived all at once at a restaurant and the wait got too long. The Cove is being used as overflow seating for the main dining room, but there are hopes that it can be converted to an extra-fee restaurant later.

The Crystal Dining Room, the main dining room, offered five-course dinners. The food was ordinary and portions were tiny, but waiters were quick to offer extra servings. We started with a fruit dish, cream of cauliflower soup and Caesar salad. My table-mate had a small, nicely grilled piece of mahi mahi. I had roast leg of lamb unlike any lamb I'd had before -- thin, well-done slices, carved like roast beef and served plain; mint jelly was offered belatedly.

Dinner at Rio -- billed as a Brazilian-style steakhouse and buffet -- was a disappointment when it offered no Brazilian-style food on the night I went. Instead, it was Mexican night. I started with cubes of too-salty Parmesan cheese, followed by run-of-the-mill paella and enchiladas.

My most enjoyable dinner was at Trattoria Di Gerry, where no reservations were required. Table service was for beverages only; there was counter service for food -- a selection of pastas and sauces, pizza, Caesar and garden salads. I chose a salad and mushroom ravioli that one of the cooks quickly sautéed in olive oil and garlic. The food was good, the beverage service unaccountably slow.

On the morning we arrived in Nassau, I dawdled because I wasn't joining a shore excursion and went up to the pool deck buffet at 10:30 a.m. I was surprised to find that everything but a few muffins and the coffee already had been put away.

ENTERTAINMENT: The ship has several bars and lounges. My favorite was a piano bar with a singer crooning standards and soft rock and an occasional duet with the pianist. The karaoke lounge was more popular; there were performers who made me wince and a few others who could have been on American Idol. In the nightclub, I caught only a little of the show -- a singer who promised a tribute to Cher later in the cruise.

During the day, the ship offered bingo, line-dancing lessons, wine-tasting, an art sale, a trivia contest, a napkin-folding lesson and a scavenger hunt.

VALUE: Many people don't take a cruise for the scavenger hunts, line-dancing classes and trivia games. They look forward to a weekend of sunning or reading, and having tropical drinks delivered to their lounge chairs, knowing that they're not responsible for fixing dinner. For people looking for a cheap but fun tropical weekend, as long as they weren't expecting great food, the Bahamas Celebration delivered.

For about $70 a day for lodging and not-quite-unlimited food, it was a bargain. But not everyone wants to go the bargain route, and the Bahamas Celebration probably is not for those who don't.

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