Cruise was great in general. LOTS and lots of people but if you plan in advance and know that there are places you can go for adults only that's not so bad. It ends up being MUCH more expensive than it appears - you can probably manage that but you will be shocked at how much internet and drinks end up costing you - talk to your mobile phone carrier before you go (would have worked out to MUCH less for me to have made those arrangements in advance). Any side things you get also really add up! Also, not sure how the triple points, etc., work but I don't see them showing up on my Marriot Bonvoy yet.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
It was pretty good. People were very rude and like 8 Indian people barged themselves in front of my daughter and me after we had already put our bags through the scanner - this could be just a difference in culture/manners but I'd have appreciated someone managing people after they tell you what number line to get in. They literally picked up and touched our bags to move them and put theirs first before my daughter put her foot down and moved them back. Nobody should be touching my bags/luggage unless they work for the cruise line/customs.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Main dining was pretty good! Windjammer was like the Golden Corral from HELL - we went there on our first day right after check-in and having never been on a cruise before we were worried that all the food would be like this. Fortunately most of the other included dining options were pretty good!
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
It seemed like there were a wide variety of options - we only went to the pools, really. It was so crowded and I do not enjoy hanging around with a bunch of kids on my vacation. I think the crowding is simply a feature of vacationing on a ship, though. I like that there was an adult-only area (solarium) but I wish that SOME of it was outside - I don't enjoy an indoor pool.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Overall very good! We loved Spectra's Cabaret, wish the We Will Rock You show was a bit more like that one. The musicians/performers were good but the show was SOOO long - really way too long and got very weird. There was a technical difficultly about an hour in and we ran for the exits.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Our Room Steward Jimbo was amazing - so helpful and knowledgeable and he was so on top of everything - we can't say enough good things!! Our waitstaff at American Icon and Silk were amazing too! Particularly Rufo - one night we were eating in another section - very crowded and noisy and our service was honestly not great. Rufo actually recognized us and came over to say hello - even remembered our names! We were so impressed!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
It was great - we had heard that cruise ship cabins were generally very small and cramped and so we honestly didn't expect much. Our cabin was a decent size, and the balcony was great! There was an incident on one of the days at sea where two women were literally screaming at each other for HOURS - like violent screaming - on the balcony or with the door to their balcony open. People in all the other cabins on that side of the ship were sticking their heads out - some even literally shouted for them to be quiet or take it inside. We would truly not have been surprised to see someone go over the balcony rail - it was that level of crazy. This went on for hours and we at some point actually were hoping that ship security or someone would come and take them away to the brig (if there is such a thing on a cruise ship) - it was THAT bad. It was when we were leaving port in Bermuda because the "Pilot Rescue" boat came up to the ship during that time and someone got off (we didn't know what it was because we were hoping they were coming to take these women off the ship).
It was great. The excursion we took (Rising Son Catamaran) was excellent!! It got crazy when a second cruise ship docked there, but prior to that it as nice and we had the area mostly to ourselves (ourselves=Anthem Of The Seas). There is plenty to do, plenty of transportation to go elsewhere. Only wish we had more time there.
It was good. I was really upset that there was some problem with my card (overlapping fees/refunds with scooter rentals maxed my card) and apparently they had tried to notify me via the TV in the room. We really didn't watch TV much so it came as a total surprise when we got to the last part of the line to exit the ship (which we'd gotten up early and waited in), scanned our SeaPass, and then got sent to guest services. I'd have really appreciated a call on the phone in our cabin, or a text or e-mail on my mobile phone, prior to trying to get off the ship - because it was a simple thing that could have been fixed prior to the fray to exit the ship.
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