We really loved our cruise experience on the ship itself. Our excursions ended up not being good with all the problems we experienced due to the hurricane and then companies not showing up!
Embarkation
4 out of 5
It was good. The lady who was checking us in for the cruise was so nice, but their computers were having issues and logged them out a few times, so it took longer than it should have to check us in.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The main dining room dining was always great. The buffet for a late lunch was just ok. The biggest problem that after 2, there were only a few places to get food until dinner, and those lines were so long. That was a little frustrating. Drink choices at the bar were wonderful, but at the buffets, you could only get water, lemonade or tea, in a tiny juice cup. The cups were definitely not big enough. Plus the ice seemed to always be out in the buffet area. You could only get the water, tea and lemonade on the 10th floor, which was a hassle to have to go to the elevator, and go to the 10th floor every time you wanted water. I finally realized that we could get bottles of water from the bars, so that opened up a few other places to get water. What would be best is if they would put water and ice on every floor, like at hotels.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
We played Bingo, Mini golf, and got in the pool.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
We really enjoyed the stage shows.
Children's Programs
Did not have any kids with us
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Almost everyone on the ship was great. There was only 1 person that we encountered on the ship that didn't have a great attitude.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The ship was very clean. The common areas were beautiful.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Our room was nice. The bed was comfortable.
Ship tip
Bring a insulated cup to fill up with water to take back to your room!
We had an excursion booked but it canceled due to the hurricane. We ended up buying the trolly tickets to go around Key West, but the Trolly's were so slow, and they definitely did not come every 15 to 20 minutes to the stops. We waited over half an hour for one to arrive to pick us up, and we were running short on time. We then found out there was a FREE Bus around Key West, so we ended up jumping on that instead. The bus driver was so nice and he even gave everyone free water! The trolly drivers were nice and they gave you a lot of history of Key West, but the wait was not worth it to us. Because of the Trolly not being on time, we did not get to see some of the things we wanted to see on Key West. Next time, we will take the free city bus!
There was massive confusion when we got off the ship, all of these people kept trying to get us to go to their lines for their excursions, we kept getting sent here and there. We were even told to go get on a bus, after we told them many times what excursion we were booked for, then we were pulled off the bus. Finally, we saw a man with holding a sign with our names on it. Just getting to the correct excursion was crazy but once we got to the right place the tour was great. We did the private beach and cave tour. Michael was a great tour guide. He gave us such good information and stories about the island. He was very nice and funny. The cave was just ok, it's really a very small cave, which I know you can't help. We also only got to spend 30 minutes at the beach, which is not enough time for me! The beach was beautiful!! But Michael gave us the option to go to other beaches or the the local shopping market. He also took us on a tour thru local housing villages to see how the locals lived, and the devastation after the hurricane. Michael was a great tour guide!
The island itself was beautiful. We rented snorkel gear on the island, which we had to pick up when we arrived. The water was a little rough due to the hurricane so it took a lot longer to taxi people to the island, so we ended up not getting to the island until about 11:30. We had to go the rental place to pick up our snorkel gear. When we go to the rental place, the line was long and hardly moving. We were already frustrated because we didn't have much time on the island. Then we see in the rental place, 4 people in there and only 1 person was working! There were 2 windows where they could have been helping people and getting the line moving, but they were so slow, and half of them were literally not doing anything! So we finally get in the water to snorkel, and my husband's snorkel set was missing the piece that connects the snorkel to the mask. He was quite upset after waiting in that line, now he had to go back to get a new set. So I go ahead and put my snorkel gear on and go out, as soon as I put my face in the water, and breathe thru the snorkel, I suck in a lot of water. I take my snorkel off, and what do ya know, my snorkel is missing a piece on the end that keeps the water out of the snorkel!! My snorkel gear was bad too. We were so upset after that. Then we went to lunch on the island. They didn't have enough food for everyone, and once again, there was no ice. That was very frustrating because it was so hot!!
The place itself was beautiful. We had an excursion booked, but the company never showed up to pick us up, after paying a taxi to go to the pier! Once the company that we had hired to take us to Pearl Island and snorkeling, didn't show up, we had to figure out what to do. People were trying to sell us trips, but none would work for us because we had to be back on the ship at a certain time. Taxi drivers were trying to get us to hire them to take us somewhere. We didn't know what to do at the time. We finally ended up taking a taxi to a nearby beach. The beach was beautiful, but not good for snorkeling. We enjoyed sitting and relaxing on the beautiful beach there.
We were also on this sailing (Sept 9). How can you give a full review posted on Sept 12 including debarkation when the cruise didn’t end until today, Sept 17? 🤔
Great detailed review. Agree about the rented snorkel gear. No thanks. We bought our own after our first snorkel trip. Not that expensive and worth every penny!
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