Overall even with the changes due to COVID it is absolutely great to be cruising again and worth the extra steps needed to do so. I feel that as the crews get more into the rhythm of things and the industry gets a good feel for the demand things will keep getting back to normal. I am all for safety first and am happy with the steps being taken to keep everyone safe and cruising again.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Barring the mistake we made with our baggage, the process was very fast. The staff was very efficient in checking boarding passes, ID, and COVID vaccination and test info. They do make sure to check your scheduled boarding time to make sure everything moves as fast as possible so it is best to be in time.
The new self muster process is also incredibly fast and validated on the Hub app as soon as a crew meme we checks that it was done. This was probably the best COVID change ever and something that should stick around.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Overall the food was fine. You can tell they have cut some corners on what used to be offered pre-COVID such as on Feast night lobster used to include shrimp but now it is just lobster (at least this is what I was told chatting with another cruiser.)
It did seem that for some things they were either short on or didn’t plan for (this is not about the bacon, which we were aware of), such as mint and souvenir glasses that ran out around day 6.
The Chef's Art Steakhouse
5 out of 5
This was our first time going to the specialty steak area in any cruise and it was quite the experience. The food was fantastic and the ‘art’ dessert was incredibly entertaining in presentation and flavor! I recommend this to anyone that has never tried it.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Service was great. Everyone working was very attentive to taking care of you and seemed happy to be working. Our room steward, Brigette, almost constant room service delivery person, Julie, and cruise director, Deon were awesome!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Cleanliness is clearly priority 1 for their return to cruising. All staff is masked 24/7. You can see areas being cleaned constantly and staff helpfully assisting with those that may have forgotten (accidentally or otherwise) their mask with having disposable masks in hand in major venue entry areas.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
Pros:
The pillows are always great. I wish I could find them to buy!
Plenty of space in the cabin and great sea view from the balcony.
Our steward, Brigette was great. Every day had a fresh bucket of ice for us.
We got room service pretty much every night. Julie was the delivery person many of those nights and was incredibly kind.
Elemis product in the shower smells fantastic!
Cons:
Balcony on top floor of rooms had no overhead cover and people above can see directly down to it.
We were directly under the Serenity deck and it is apparently a late night crew party hang out nightly which leads to a lot of late night noise.
Remote for the TV was frustrating to work. Don’t know if it was weak batteries or what but it was very hard to get to respond to button presses.
Breakfast door tags were missing. I assumed this was a COVID change but then in day 3 they suddenly appeared. Was nice having morning coffee agaiin
Last but not least with 3 port days in a row it seemed very odd that a sea day was chosen to do balcony cleaning.
Ship tip
If you value your sleep beware the spa balconies on deck 12. Constant nightly loud thuds from above on the Serenity deck from crew parties from midnight to 2 AM.
Not too much to say for this port. We did not purchase any excursions so it was mainly the shops right at the port. Many of them including the anchor store, Senior Frogs, were closed due to COVID.
Sadly rain decided to hit right in the middle of this stop so it was a messy experience. The place looked beautiful though.
Half of the shops were closed and boarded up with only 3 small stands open.
The BBQ lunch consisted of choice of jerk chicken, hamburger, or hotdog.
Manor construction is happening around the port right now with images of a major upgrade to the area in 2022.
The shopping is mostly jewelry stores with cheap souvenir stores in between. City traffic is pretty crazy. Place has a big city feel cramped in a small area.
Chaotic but not too long. It was announced multiple times that people would be called by their muster stations to disembark. Of course no one listened. When we were called the lobby area was packed with people making it near impossible to even get off the elevator. It seems shortly after diamond, platinum, and suite they just gave up trying to be organized and let people start filing out. More interestingly people that checked their luggage and knew they would have later times to disembark were sitting in the terminal waiting to leave while the express disembarking people where exiting. It just seems no one listens to or reads the disembarking process which is what leads to the chaos.
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