Fun First Cruise

We had a check in time of 1:30PM. We arrived around 1:45 (we parked at a friend’s house and took an Uber to the port) and were walking into the ship’s lobby around 2:30. The process was very smooth we did not have to wait long at all. I had no idea where to go or what to do but there was very knowledgeable and friendly staff at every point directing us to where we needed to go. We did not use the porters, we only had one medium size suitcase each so we just brought them with us and that was one of the best decisions we made the whole trip. While we did cram into an elevator that took a long time to get up to the 11th floor it was very nice to have our luggage with us the whole time and not worry about when it would be delivered or if it would get lost.

Room Service - I ordered room service (coffee and a box of cereal to snack on later) every morning so I could enjoy coffee in my robe in bed while my husband got an extra few minutes of sleep. Three mornings I put the door hanger out with my order. One morning when we were going to be in port I even underlined 8:00am because I wanted it at 8 instead of in between 8 and 8:30 and it arrived right at 8am. The other mornings I just called when I woke up and ordered it and it usually arrived in about 15-20mins. I always tipped a dollar. Breakfast - We attempted Sea Day Brunch on the first sea day but upon finding a very long line we changed our minds and decided to just do the buffet. Later on in the week we tried the Sea Day Brunch again and found a much shorter line. It was very good. I got an omelet and my husband got eggs benedict. One of the eggs was overcooked but the other was good. Overall we were pleased with it. The rest of the mornings we ate at the buffet which was very good. While the scrambled eggs tasted like powder eggs I didn’t mind. The bacon was good (the server gave us plenty each morning-more than we could eat) and I also had a bagel with cream cheese and a piece of fruit. Husband had a breakfast burrito from Blue Iguana one time and he said it was really good and we both enjoyed omelets from the omelet station that were really delicious. Watching the chef make the omelets four at a time was almost better than the omelet itself. On the last morning I did find a hair in my eggs which really grossed me out. I had heard quite a bit of negative comments about the coffee and while it certainly wasn’t the Community Coffee that I love it was enjoyable. Lunch-my favorite lunch spot was Pig & Anchor BBQ. The pulled pork butt there is AMAZING. We also enjoyed Guy’s Burgers. I loved how the topping bar had mushrooms and onions, bacon, and other toppings. The burgers were greasy but good. Blue Iguana had really good chicken tacos and we got pizza a few times from the pizza place. I like a little bit thicker crust but the pizza was better than I expected it to be. I usually got a salad from the buffet to go along with whatever I was having for lunch but I don’t think we ever ate lunch actually at the buffet. We did have turkey sandwiches from the deli and man, do they load those sandwiches up with meat! So yummy. Dinner-We had YTD and ate in the main dining all but one night during our cruise and we had the best experience every night. We certainly do not have refined palettes so we would not be the best judge of whether the food was “top notch” but to us it was really good. Sure, the steak was not the best steak I had ever had but it really wasn’t bad. We both loved lobster night and were pleased with the size of the lobster tail. We enjoyed trying all sorts of different things that we wouldn’t normally order and several nights we each ordered two entrees so that we had a total of four to taste and enjoy along with a few appetizers and of course, dessert. Since the portions were so small I never felt like I was wasting a terrible amount of food even though i never finished everything on my plate. One of our favorite things was this cranberry roll they served on non-elegant nights. The first elegant night was the only night we had a rather long wait, maybe 20-30mins. The rest of the nights we only had a 5-15min wait which was fine. The service was wonderful and our servers always addressed us by name. Overall we really didn’t have a complaint when it came to the food….. However, the BIGGEST negative of really our entire vacation was the water. I have never tasted water like that. I am really not picky about water but man… this water was BAD. It was so bad. I was not prepared for that. It smelled like pool water and left a really bad after taste. We talked about ordering a few 12packs of bottled water to drink during the cruise but in the end we decided to just suck it up and drink it. After a couple days of making myself drink it I got used to the taste. Next time I’ll consider bringing something to flavor the water with though.

I enjoyed the events held on the Lido deck and my favorite thing to do was camp out on a chair on the Lido deck near the pool while the DJ played music. We played the putt putt course once and it was fun. I went to the gym 3 times over the course of the week. I enjoyed doing the treadmill and elliptical although i was disappointed at the view… I was expecting a better view of the ocean and it was actually pretty hard to see. The area was always clean though and never crowded, even when it was rainy outside. I already talked about the spa but it was nice to be able to go enjoy a cool shower and then some time in the steam rooms after working out.

We went to a couple comedy shows although they were always so crowded you had to get there about 30mins early to get a decent seat. The shows were enjoyable but nothing too special. I enjoyed the big performances in the evenings in the Encore lounge, especially America Rocks, Flick, and Chris Williams show. The Love and Marriage show was also one of the highlights of our trip. Oh, how could I forget the Lip Sync Battle?! That was actually probably my favorite show we went to and B-Low was the best part! I definitely would encourage everyone to make sure they do not miss that!

Over all husband and I were both amazed at the great service onboard the ship. With very few exceptions the staff we encountered were happy and friendly and engaging, always greeting us with good morning at breakfast and saying hello throughout the day. Almost all had smiles on their faces and seemed to enjoy their jobs. I really liked the lady who would walk through every morning at breakfast extending nice loud “Good morning, good morning!”s to everyone and helping everyone find a spot in line. I also liked how when we would board our ship after a port day there would be members out there to greet us and welcome us back aboard the ship.

I was AMAZED at how clean the public areas were. The bathrooms were typically spotless and there was rarely trash on the floor in any area. There were always crew members sweeping over here or wiping down walls over there. They were constantly cleaning and it really showed. I really appreciated sanitation stations, especially the ones with the automatic handwashing set ups with actual soap and water (I wish they had more!). It seemed like they were making every effort to keep the place clean and as sanitary as possible and I really appreciated that.

We had an interior spa room on deck 11 (Room #11219). While I would have loved a balcony room we were not looking to spend more money than necessary on our vacation so we went with the budget friendly interior room. Neither of us are claustrophobic and we knew we wouldn’t be spending much time in our room anyway. I did upgrade to a spa cabin due to reading many reviews that said the location was very good and the access to the spa and the little extras that came with the room really appealed to me. I believe it was only an additional $50 total for both of us so it seemed like a good deal. The room was very small but once I got over the initial shock of how small it was it never really bothered us. I kept our room picked up to keep it from getting messy and with just two of us it never felt crowded. The decor was alright. I didn’t hate it and it didn’t really effect my experience but it was not my favorite. We both thought the bed was very comfy but that may have just been because we went to bed exhausted every night. There was more than enough storage for all of our stuff (we each brought one regular size suitcase) and I really liked the shelves in the bathroom. The room temp was very nice. We keep our home set around 72 or 73 and we were very comfortable in our room the entire trip. I even had to bump it up a little because it was too cold toward the end of the trip. The towels were very scratchy, I did not like them at all. The bathroom, though small, was plenty big enough to meet our needs and we never needed air freshener even though I read many people who recommended bringing it. I brought my own hair dryer and an extension cord both of which came in handy. The tv remote did not work very well and the channels were limited although we got the main ones (ABC, NBC, FOX) the whole trip. The movie channels literally played the same three movies the entire cruise. The best part about our room was that it was VERY quiet. I don’t think I ever heard any of our neighbors. Occasionally during the day I could hear someone talking out in the hall but that only happened once or twice. If having a spa room means no kids running up and down the halls and screaming then that was worth the extra $50 alone. We enjoyed being on deck 11 as it was close to the Lido deck and serenity deck and climbing several flights of stairs to get to decks 5, 4, and 3 when we needed to attend dinner or other activities helped counter all the delicious food we ate. Our room steward was very nice. We met her on the first day and she asked us if we wanted morning, evening or both and we chose both. I also asked for a bucket of ice in the evenings. She always replaced our towels and had our bucket of ice ready for us. I felt so spoiled getting back from breakfast and having our bed all made up and then getting back after dinner and having it turned down and ready.

Due to hurricane Nate we were not able to dock until 9:30PM Sunday evening instead of the original time of 7AM. They announced anyone who wanted to disembark that night could between 9:30 and 11:30 or they could wait until Monday morning. Those who wished to disembark that night should be in the Encore lounge at 9:30pm. We arrived at the Encore lounge at 9:15 to find it already packed. While I have read several people complaining that it was a very disorganized operation our experience was very pleasant. There were a lot of staff in the lounge seating people and keeping things organized and we were waiting for our Uber to pick us up outside by 10:30pm.