We have been on many cruises and the panama canal was on our bucket list, now that we have been there, done that, probably wouldn't go again. We had a great visit with relatives that cruised with us. The wait staff was excellent and the room steward superb! Lots of food available.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
It only took us a few minutes to get through the embarkation process and was relatively painless.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Main dinning room experience in the Island restaurant was good. The food was good and the waitstaff was excellent. Tip( you don't need to make a reservation, especially if you show up early. You will get seated right away.) We ate dinner 3 times in the main restaurant, 2 out of 3 times the food was excellent. The one time it wasn't was the night they had fried chicken. The buffet food was always good, however after a few days it all seemed to blend together and looked like the previous days food choices. Food was always readily available either at the buffet or on the deck at the pizza or hamburger/hot-dog grill. The waitstaff were great, extremely pleasant and usually as soon as you set your plate on the table they were there to get your drink order. Refills were plentiful.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
We only used the swimming pool once, while at the Grand Cayman port, we had a snorkeling excursion planned but the Captain of the ship made the decision that the sea was to rough to take the tender in, he cancelled the port stop. We decided to take a picture of us snorkeling in the pool in the Cayman's just so we could say we snorkeled in the Cayman's. :) We played bingo on the first day, but after listening to the caller( Fortuna Luck) for 30 minutes wishing each person luck, luck, luck I wanted to hang myself so we didn't go back. Some demonstrations were cancelled due to rough seas. Did I mention there was plenty to eat!
Entertainment
4 out of 5
The stage shows were pretty good. The musicals were probably the best, one was cancelled due to rough seas. The ventriloquist and impressionist were ok. We watched a couple of movies on the deck big screen by the pool. It was a neat experience, they cover the deck lounges with covers and pillows and leave each lounge a blanket as well. They bring you around sliced pizza and popcorn during the movie.
Children's Programs
no kids
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Cabin Stewart Sabino was excellent, he kept the room clean and in tip top shape, he took care of every need we had. The waitstaff was excellent, both in the buffet areas and in the main dinning rooms.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Ship was clean and maintained. They need to have a card/game room for the extra unplanned days at sea when ports are cancelled. People got bored and sat around and played cards in the dinning areas, so there were limited seating available at times. This wasn't an everyday occurrence.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Cabin was clean and in good repair, we had more than enough room for all of our personal items. King-size bed, in-room refrigerator for drinks etc.
Ship tip
We brought a case of water on board with us so we wouldn't have to buy bottles of water from the ship, but if you just take an empty water bottle with you and fill it up with the filtered water in the buffet dinning area you will appreciate not having to lug your case of water on to the ship.
It is not safe to wonder around Jamaica by yourself, if you go outside the port fence/gate it is an extremely depressed neighborhood. The ship was late getting to port so our excursion to one of the all inclusive resorts was shortened and wasn't worth the extra money for only a few hours. We spent as much time getting to and from there as we did at the resort. This was our 2nd time in Jamaica in 4 years, nothing has changed.
Don't try walking to the old town area from the ship, for a $10 taxi ride you will be glad you spent the money, it would be a very long walk otherwise. We started to do so after going through the taxi\tour driver gauntlet as you exit the port. (They are very aggressive), but after making it to the main street and then trying to figure out how to get across heavy traffic and which way to go, we opted for one of the persistent drivers that followed us all the way out of the parking lot and to the street. He then talked us into paying $10 each for a 2 hour guided tour of the historical areas and of old town and the price included taking us back to the port. It turned out to be a good deal for us!
If you didn't have a pre-paid excursion they wouldn't let you off the ship. After the ship went back through the canal later in the day, it stopped at a shipping dock to retrieve those passengers that had gone on an excursion. There was a tent set up where the locals were selling keepsakes, after all the excursion folks were back on-board they let the ship passengers off for a few minutes to buy some keepsakes.
We just walked around town, shopped at a super market, wondered through the streets among the locals and had a great local ice cold beer while sitting along the street side while people watching. Keepsakes were about 1/2 the price a block away from the dockside ship sales area.
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