Overall a great cruise. Weather was fantastic. Not a lot of children onboard since many American schools were still in session. Typical cruise. Only thing that surprised me is they don't do the midnight buffet with the ice sculptures and food carvings anymore. Would definitely recommend.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Fastest I have ever boarded a cruise ship. Simple and easy!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Typical cruise buffet food. Drinks are expensive but everyone knows that. Took us 2 days to figure out there was a bbq restaurant and that the mexican grill served breakfast. Burger joint was really good and popular. Deli was also popular especially late at night.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Deck chairs near pool are hard to come by, but expected. Did not get in pools or use fitness center.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Piano bar Ben was funny. We saw 3 comedians and they were very good (very cold in theater). Karoake is much busier in the later hour. Broadway type show was good. We enjoyed the trivia, men vs women competition, and Hasbro game show. The poolside movie was not the one advertised(and the one we wanted to see), so we left. That was disappointing.
Children's Programs
No kids
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Everyone was really nice and personable. We did Your Way Dining but ended up with the same dinner staff 2 nights in a row and that was nice. Our first night dining, we sat with other passengers we didn't know. It was fun getting to know them. One of the guests had many food allergies and they were VERY accommodating.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Ship was clean. My only complaint was the smoke of the casino spilled out into a major hallway. Had to walk past many times and it was stinky and annoying. We did not go to the casino at all due to overwhelming smoke.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Cabin was good except for location. This was our fault for not researching where the cabin was on the ship. When docking, we must have been over the anchors or something. It was very loud. It wasn't a huge issue because the rest of the time it was relatively quiet. Size was good. Bedding was comfortable. The only reason I scored it a 4 was when we were leaving, I found someone's clothes in 2 different spots in the closets. They were pushed way back on the top and bottom shelves but it made me start to think how well to they really clean? Also, one of the bathroom towels had a very small spot on it. Just threw it in the floor. The others were clean and our rooms were always clean when promised.
Ship tip
It took us a couple of days before realizing there was a bbq restaurant onboard and that the mexican grill served breakfast. So much to read, I guess we overlooked it.
We did not do any planned excursions. This was a beach day for us. After getting off ship, walk to the right of pier. There is a beach with chairs and palapa umbrellas to use for free. Typically everyone stops there so can get full. Walk a little further toward the restaurant. The beach there was less crowded. Beach is rocky and if you want to get in the water, I recommend water shoes. After beach and shopping, we walked to the taxi stand and just had a taxi driver show us around the island. That was the best! For $20pp, he drove us around the whole island(very small) and told us about the history and what it was like to live there. We talked about cost of living and lifestyle. We stopped at a local bar and he took us to his home. He actually invited us in, but we declined. It was a very interesting tour and there were only 6 of us.
We did not do an excursion in this port either. We chose to walk the streets and do a little shopping. We walked a lot and enjoyed the street feeling of the city. Saw the "umbrella" street, the Governer's Mansion, a fort and many shops. We ate at a Mexican/Puerto Rican restaurant outside and it was delicious.
We did the catamaran, snorkeling cruise on the Castaway Girl. The crew was great. The snorkeling was good (not the best I've ever done). Did get to see turtles and learned a couple of new things. The best part was the sail back. I love being on a boat and the rum punch wasn't bad. There was a public bathroom right outside the pier, so we changed to some dry clothes and went shopping. There was not enough time in St. Thomas since we were only there from 7:15am (shops not open) to 2:30. 2 people in my party did the Kon Tiki Party boat. Tickets said be on dock at 10am. Excursion did start until 11am. Someone screwed up "ship" time vs. "island" time. They didn't have any time to shop in the port.
We did the ATV excursion. We loved it. The ride to the ranch where the ATV's are is interesting. Long, bumpy and dusty. It's an adventure in itself. We have never done ATV's and it was fun. After a safety talk and practice round, we were off. Bring sunglasses and a scarf to cover face. Rode thru jungle area and on the beach. Stopped at a DR country home where we were served tea and got to tour a home. Last stop was a beach area. We had about an hour there. I would recommend this excursion.
Midnight buffets...wow it HAS been a long time since you last cruised. I think the last time I cruised with a good midnight buffet they also let me skeet shoot and hit golf balls off the back of the ship..miss that.
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