Definitely won't do a 3 day cruise again, and will use Royal Carribean next time.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
It was so smooth and easy
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
It was our first cruise so we took a short one to make sure everything would go ok "health wise". We went with my sister and her husband who have been on more than 40 cruises, but never only a 3 day. We thought the food was just "good", but not great. My sister and her husband said the quality has really declined since Emerill took over and believed that the 3 day "obnoxious booze cruise" probably didn't help either. People were seated in the dining room dressed inappropriately.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
The diversity on the ship was noticeably limited, which made us feel out of place. While that alone wouldn't have bothered me, we encountered numerous comments that made us uncomfortable, along with an abundance of inappropriate language and rowdy behavior. As a result, we chose to avoid the pools and areas where large groups were congregating.
The casino was enjoyable, but the smoking area is not well-separated from the non-smoking section, which made it difficult to avoid the smoke. Additionally, some families brought children along, not realizing it was more of a party atmosphere, and many parents expressed concern about the language used around their kids.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
The 80s show was the best thing we saw/did on the ship. We went to 2 comedy shows. One of the comedians, made us feel uncomfortable with all the racial jokes. The other one has us concerned that he was going to go down the same path, but he only started that way and the rest of his show as good. Again, we encounted a lot of drunk obnoxious people, but were able to drown them out for the most part. The comedian we actually thought was good, referred to the cruise as the "Hood Cruise" and the "Walmart of Cruise Lines" and he nailed it! I could not describe it better!
Children's Programs
We were all adults
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Our steward was amazing! I wish I could have remembered his name to give him credit, but he was great! Stefan, the ship's cruise director was a hoot! We definitely know why he has the job he has. He was very entertaining and so nice. The waiters were also great. The reason for a 4 star, rather than 5, is because I feel like they (the waiters and various ship personnel) could have done a better job of ensuring the "wrongly dressed" and the "foul personalities" were addressed.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
I found the artwork to be a little weird. The ship appears to be older than others, but was clean for the most part. Unfortunately for the staff, there was a whole lot of puke that had to constantly be cleaned up.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We've hear people complain about cabins and how small they are, etc. We could not have been happier! It exceeded our expectations so much I don't even know where to being. The matress and pillows were so comfortable - like sleeping on a cloud. We had more than ample closet space. The bathroom was similar to a large RV bathroom and had more than enough space for us to meet all our needs. It was very clean when we arrived, and our steward snuck in like a Ninja and took care of it while we were out. The towel animals he left us each day were such a cute addition!
Ship tip
Don't do a 3 day cruise unless you don't mind being around the most obnoxious drunks, rude people and foul language. Definitely don't take kids on it.
The port was nice. We went to Atlantis. I would recommend flying to Atlantis, rather than doing it as an excusion because you will not have enough time to do most of the things. It's beautiful, but it's like trying to do all the parks at Disney World in a day, so the cost is definitely not worth it. It also took us nearly 45 minutes to get there and back so that cuts into your time. We ended up looking around the shops near the port and eating at Sharkees. I would NOT recommend going to Sharkees. They are so slow. You can tell they are not in a hurry from the start. My brother in law had to go get us a waitress after 15 minutes. We put in our drink order and it took 20 minutes to get our drinks, including water. He ordered a diet coke...it was $7 in a very small cup and refills are not free. In addition, when he ordered his refill, we were almost finished eating by the time they brought his refill, which was another 20 minutes.
It was a little chaotic, but went ok for the most part. All of our bags were waiting for us (which is always a plus) and we hired someone to carry our bags out so going through Customs was a breeze.
I still do not get the Walmart comparison since 70% of people shop and love Walmart. I have never done less than 6 day or summer cruises for the reasons you described with the exception of "diversity" because I live in my own skin and do not worry about others or what they think or feel. I suggest trying a longer cruise because you will surely find a form of the same behavior on any 5 day or less cruise with budget cruise lines like Royal, Carnival, NCL, etc.
Most cruises under 6 days, until you take a boutique line (figure about $750/passenger/night), will be a booze cruise regardless of the cruise line or date.
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