Overall for the money still a good value. Buffet food is decent, always plenty of chairs on the decks to relax, and the Adult Only Serenity deck was awesome--super quiet and relaxing. We lucked out and had great weather in Freeport and Nassau and definitely enjoyed our beach day excursions that we had booked outside of the ship. Skip the dining room. Also, the people that were on this cruise generally seemed to lack polite behavior... people were extremely loud in the halls in the evening (after 11PM) and I found some people just to be generally rude to the staff, especially during the disembarkation process. I would likely not book another cruise out of JAX, but go to another port instead.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
We were scheduled to board between 1:00 and 1:30. We arrived, and of course it was very crowded. Probably took at least 45 minutes to get processed through the boarding process.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Food was marginal compared to other cruises, even past Carnival cruises. The Thanksgiving meal in the dining room was very subpar. One morning we decided to have breakfast in the dining room, and we waited at least 40 minutes to be served. The staff is not prepared to make made-to-order breakfasts. Skip it and go to the buffet instead. Also we signed up for the first time for the Anytime Dining option and were disappointed. We arrived one evening around 7PM, and had to wait 30 minutes for a table. It's not really Anytime... it's anytime they have a table ready!
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Ship's musical stage performance of Divas was pretty entertaining for a cruise ship. Very energetic with decent music.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
One day our cabin did not get serviced at all. They did seem to be constantly cleaning the halls, stairs and rooms, however. Clearly they were making an effort to avoid illness on board.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Overall, good.
Cabin / Stateroom
2 out of 5
We also had three people in our room, (my husband and our 14 year old daughter). Usually when we book, the ship only allows us to book a room that's configured for 3 beds. They did not do that on this cruise. Instead, they brought a cot into our room which ended up taking up the entire cabin! They did not take it out during the day, just left it there. Not what I had expected.
Ship tip
Skip the dining room and especially the Anytime Dining option. Food was not great, and we found the fare to be better in the various other dining options, including the buffet. We've going on nearly 10 cruises, and this is the first time I would advise this.
Bought a day pass from BahamasDayPass.com and spent $20 to spend the day at the Grand Lucayan resort. The main part of the hotel remains closed due to the hurricane, but the beach is open as is the infinity pool. Great way to escape the crowds from the ship, and just a 20 minute taxi ride from the port.
Took us over two hours to disembark. Not sure what the hold up was, but it was all very disorganized. If you can wait and get off the ship last and not be in a hurry, I would highly recommend going that route. We stood in the halls with tons of people for a very long time, and most people were not patient to sit through it and wait... Once we got off the ship, the line to go through customs was very long. By the time we got to our car in the lot, it was nearly 10:45AM. We were scheduled to disembark at 8AM.
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