Our trip was amazing! The staff onboard made us feel known and loved, which made the entire trip feel like we were a part of a greater community. Everyone was so friendly and accommodating of our dietary choices (vegan), going above and beyond our expectations! There was always something to do (if you felt like doing anything) and the locations we visited were spectacular. We will definitely be back!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation flowed very well and the transition was easy for our first time!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
The food was incredible! Although it was a bit difficult to access non-dairy foods at first, on day two we had access to a hostess who helped design our evening meals to be completely vegan and delicious! I would, however, love to see dairy-free ice cream served at the soft serve since it's such a common allergy.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
We did BINGO, visited the Library Bar (where I borrowed an incredible book for the week), enjoyed the pools, played mini golf more than once, did the ropes course, watched the evening Dive In movies with popcorn. It was all fantastic!
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Children's Programs
4 out of 5
Our children went that first day at sea and were super excited to attend. Being the ages of 9 and 10 they were a part of the 9-11 group. However (and I don't know if it was just this particular day) they were blended with the 6-8 group and they were very bored. As more mature 9 and 10 year olds (grade 5), they were hoping to be with kids their age and seperate from the younger (grade 1/2) children. After that first day at sea, they never went back, which hindered our adult time on the ship.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
I can't say enough about the staff! As a vegan family, we were concerned about how much we could eat. However, the dining staff had the hostess visit us every night so we could plan out our meals (breakfast and dinner) for the following day. The chef created the most INCREDIBLE meals for us! And our wait staff were super friendly and kind and knew every one of our names that first night of meeting them. I can't say enough good things about Enrique, Enrich, and Joleene!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We loved our cabin, although next time we would choose a balcony room. Our parents were right across from us on a balcony so we were (thankfully) able to watch the ocean from their room as often as we wanted.
Ship tip
If you want to disembark quickly, do not check your bags the night before you leave! Doing this resulted in us waiting for what seemed like hours. We were the last ones waiting for a shuttle back to our car (which took over an hour). Having to leave our room at 8:30 and not getting to our car until after 12:00 was FAR too much for us and our children. It was almost a deterrent to coming back for another cruise because of the chaos of it all.
We just visited the shops here, which were excellet! Loved the little market where we purchased chocolate made by Dominicans from cacao harvested on the island.
This was my favourite port. We arrived to a gorgeous bay filled with yachts and other boats backing onto a luscious hill spotted with houses and small buildings. On this day we decided to visit the Pirate Treasure Museum - my favourite part of the entire trip. We were greeted with a Jack Sparrow look-a-like who kept his character throughout the entire museum. He taught our boys how to tie a special ship knot, let them hold his weapons, and shared stories of various pirates. We could have stayed there all day learning from him! The entire museum was super engaging and I highly recommend it to anyone visiting St Thomas.
Despite having had an earthquake the day before we arrived, the people here were incredibly kind and knowledgeable. We took a driving tour of the older area of San Juan and visited the fort. Such incredible history here, we will definitely be back!
Seemed a bit chaotic and there were only 2 border security officers for thousands of people. It took over an hour of lines to get off the ship, not to mention the time we had to wait on the ship after we had to be out of our rooms. This was the only part of my trip I didn't enjoy (and at the time I had made a choice that we were never coming back on a cruise because of this experience!).
Thank you for sharing your vacation with us. Sounds like it was a wonderful experience. Everyone agrees that the disembarking process needs to be greatly improved.
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