We are seasoned cruisers but it was the first time for our daughter and grandkids. They really loved everything, especially the late night pizza and anytime soft serve ice cream! They have plans to do another cruise in the future. Overall, we enjoyed the ship, the ports of call, and the staff but especially our dining room wait staff, who really played a large part in creating a memorable experience for our family.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
There's no easy way to disembark 4500 people and embark a new 4500 people but they do a good job of managing it. The common areas get very crowded ahead of the cabins being ready for passengers, so it's best to just understand that patience is needed for a couple of hours
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The Crimson dining room, especially our main waiter, Berli, and the other two waiters for our table, Manoj and Sanjeev, are really what made our trip special. Berli really became a member of the family so much that we took a professional picture with him to add to our photo album! His rapport with our grandchildren were the most memorable part of the cruise. Food was a great mix of interesting menu items, so there was something new to try every night.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
trivia, ship building, spa. Kids went to kids club and pool.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
enjoyed the variety shows. Seating on deck 3 is fabulous. Seating on deck 4 and 5 is very cramped on the legs
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
They liked being with kids their own age
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Shout out to Stephen in Pixels who really helped me navigate "The Carnival Way", Suman in The Carvery for his smile and pleasant service, Paula on the Fun Squad for always being friendly and nice, even when she was repeating herself for the 50th time. Big kudos to Carmel and Hanna, the hostesses for the Crimson dining room as they are pros at the over-the-top chaos that ensues when the dining room doors open and people want to eat! They handled everyone's requests with friendly smiles and grace. I wish I could say really nice things about our cabin steward, Lexter, however, we barely saw him. I was shocked. We are seasoned cruisers (on multiple cruise lines) and we always love talking and getting to know our cabin steward. It's always fun to find out where they are from and hear their travel stories and the most we got from Lexter was a Hi in the hallway. I normally give an extra tip to our steward, but I divided the tip I would have given him to the other people previously mentioned as they went above and beyond.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
There was always someone cleaning the common areas. Some of the elevators are looking a bit beat up, but they get a lot of traffic, so it's understandable!
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
It's a normal stateroom. The bed was definitely not comfortable. We ended up taking the comforters that were under the sofa and using them as extra padding to try to make it so we didn't feel the mattress springs. Bathroom has plenty of room for storing of toiletries
This is a fun place. Make sure you get an early tender number if you want to get a lounge chair and umbrella. Our number 12 wasn't early enough and there's just not enough shade for the length of time you're on the beach. After a couple of hours and lunch, we came back to the boat so we didn't get fried
We took a taxi to the other side of the island to a private beach and also did Parasailing. It was so nice to be away from the crowds as there were 3 ships in port that day!
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