If we can save the money, we will cruise again. This was our 30th wedding anniversary and my wife's 50th birthday. It was a great celebration time and we loved it. Only problem is I gained 4 pounds because of all my eating and drinking. LOL I don't know if I would want a larger ship as we like to "look out" at the sea and were told that the larger ships really focus "inward" on activities. We could afford a balcony, but would love to do that someday.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
We arrived at 10:30 and had to wait until boarding time, but were on the ship by 11:30. I don't know if I would arrive earlier than 11:00
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
MDR: Fantastic! My wife is Gluten-Free and Allergic to Egg. It's a difficult combo, but the chef made my wife a great lobster bisque and a dessert for her birthday that she said was the best ever. We only ate in the MDR 3 times and in specialty restaurants 3 times. Overall, I would not pay extra for the specialty dinning as the MDR was very good.
CHOPS: Was very good. Steak was just a little over done (like it medium rare to rare). The sides were delicious. Our server was okay, but not very attentive. I to ask for a refill on my coffee, he was slow in taking the order, but the dinner was very good.
GIOVANNI'S: We ate here twice. The first time was the best, would possibly do a 2 night package and eat only once at both places. The steak was actually better here than at chops. The service was better and the atmosphere is much better. A more quiet place and the view from the windows are great.
DRINKS: We had the refreshment package (non-alcohol). We barely got our money's worth. I probably would not buy it again for me, but my wife would. She loves the starbucks coffee included. The mocktails were fun, but I really didn't need the extra calories. :)
WINDJAMMER: Our experience was terrible. Food was fine, but very over crowed, no place to sit, noisy and little staff to help. We at one lunch and one breakfast there.
CAFE PROMENADE: We ate breakfast here twice and I snacked a couple of times. The pizza was good, but I am not picky. We could always find a place to sit and the staff was friendly.
Main Dining Room
5 out of 5
The chef is fantastic and will work with any food allergies if you tell them ahead of time. They will even make something special for you or repeat something you enjoyed. BTW, get more than one of anything any time, including the main entree.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Okay, I am overweight and 52, so we did the hot tub and the slide. Both were good, but the hot tub int he Solarium was not hot enough for my wife. I went to the fitness center and used both the dry sauna and the steam room. Loved them.
RAFFLES: We did the free raffles on the promenade and I won a watch! Obviously, you have a small chance of winning, but the watch was listed at $69.99 at Kohls when I got home.
CASINO: Very smoke filled. As long as you can put up with A LOT of smoke, it's fine. I broke even (won as much as I put in). I only did the slots.
Art and Photo Gallery
4 out of 5
My wife did the daily art gallery stories and really enjoyed them (and to a small print each time). The Ship Photos are expensive ($20 each). We only bought one.
Dunes Mini Golf
5 out of 5
Two decks! It was fun and we would like to have done it again, but were just to busy trying to do too much. LOL
Solarium
4 out of 5
I wish it was enclosed, but it was still very good. Several times only one hot tub was open. Some people smoked and no staff said anything to them even though they were not supposed to smoke there (or on that side).
Casino Royale
3 out of 5
Too smoky for me. Fun, but LOTS of smoke.
Day Spa and Fitness Center
5 out of 5
Really enjoyed the Sauna and the Steam Room
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We did 4 shows and two were very good. The ICE SHOW was excellent, on of the HEADLINERS was very good. The comedy was okay, but pushed the envelope of "family friendly." I would have been embarrassed if I had young teens with me who caught the sexual innuendo jokes.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
SERVICE: Everyone was friendly who worked on the ship. We thought the staff were top notch.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
We had no problem with the ship design. But again, this was our first ever cruise so we have nothing to compare it to. The only thing we did not like like was you could not walk the length of the ship on the lower decks to get to the MDR. You could if you walked through the casino (deck 4), on deck 3 it is blocked. So we had to walk on deck 5 from our end of the ship then go down two decks to deck 3 for My Time Dinning.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
CABIN 1101. We were in one of the two inside cabins on deck 11 forward. LOVED THE ROOM. It was spacious. It had NO couch or chair except by the deck chair by the mirror. So only one person could sit in the room, the other had to sit on the bed. But that was fine with us. We spent little time in our room. The BED was comfortable for us. We had heard they were very hard, but I would only classify our as firm. It was great sleeping for us. Our ROOM ATTENDANT was fine, but not great. We only saw him when we arrived and then once during the cruise and he brought us the alcohol we bought on the last night. He did do a towel animal for my wife each afternoon and she loved that. We would save the money and do another inside room, but don't know if ours is better than most or larger than most since it was new in 2018.
Ship tip
Go outside to the helipad before dawn and watch the sun rise on a sea day. It is so impressive. Take the opportunty to watch the stars at night or the sunset if possible. Talk to everyone. Staff loved to tell about their family.
We only did RC excursions. This was was the St. Martin sea caves and Reversing Tides. Both were excellent. The shopping in the tent where at the port was good pricing for trinkets.
Our excursion stated horse carriage ride and bus trip to the top of Cadillac Mountain. The carriage ride was nice, but didn't thrill me. They DID NOT take us to Cadillac Mountain didn't tell us why. Our tour guide was great.
We did THE TOP 10 which included Peggy's Cove and the Fairview Cemetery. For me, it was the best and most moving excursion. Our tour guide was a great story teller.
We were given an 8:30 departure time, but it took us about 20 minuets to actually get off the boat after the 8:30 time. We hoped we could leave earlier, but unless you carry your own luggage, you have to follow their timeline. Park at the port, don't use off site parking.
I agree about Peggy's Cove. Loved it! My husband wanted to fly back to that area & spend more time there but sadly he passed away two weeks after we got back from the cruise.
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