We had a great time and loved the southern Caribbean itinerary.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
We had a flight cancellation the day before and a delayed flight the day of and didn’t think we’d make the cruise. We always like to try to get an early boarding appointment. However, the stress aside, we loved getting on the ship at 2:30! 15 minutes from taxi to our room (which was ready). We had completed VeriFly so check in was so quick. At that time of day, you have to bring your own luggage on board but elevators weren’t busy and since you have your baggage, you can unpack right away and get on with your day. Loved it!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
We were originally disappointed that we had to have Your Time dining since early dining was all booked up. However, we ended up loving the flexibility of Your Time dining. We never felt that we had to adhere to a specific timeline and could take our time. Whenever you’re ready to dine, you check in on your app and wait for them to notify you that your table is ready. The longest we ever waited was 3 minutes. The downside is that you are seated in different sections all the time so you don’t develop a relationship with your servers. Upon arrival at the dining room, you could request to sit in a specific server’s section if you desired. And, if you didn’t like the location of the table you were given, you could ask for a change. The wait staff were attentive, eager to please and always called us by name.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
There was always lots to do and the venues didn’t seem to have long line ups. We didn’t participate in most because we had planned this cruise just to be a relaxing, chill time. Deck 5 outside Bonsai Grill had nice comfy seating in both sun or shade that was great for curling up with a great book and ocean view. We did take in a movie at the IMAX theatre and enjoyed that experience.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We didn’t take in any of the stage shows this time. The DJ’s on Lido did a great job keeping everyone involved. The Three Sisters violinists who played in the atrium each night were amazing! The pianists in the Piano Bar all did a great job.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
As others have said, the smoke from the casino made mid-ship on Deck 4 and 5 very unpleasant. At the very least, it would be great if they’d install sliding glass doors to seal off the entrances and exits to the casino. They have enclosed the decorative funnel with glass so that helped a little bit. All areas were very well maintained and exceptionally clean.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We were initially a little worried because it looked like our room backed onto the stairs, but it didn’t. Although we seemed close to the elevators, we never heard the ding/ding. There was extra bedding in the bottom of the closet which took up the only space to put our shoes so we just put the bedding under the bed to get it out of the way. The beds were really comfortable. Service was only once a day and your steward will ask whether you’d like morning or evening service. And don’t worry if you like towel animals - morning service comes with them too. Our steward really seemed to appreciate that we asked him which time would be best for him to clean the room as we didn’t have a preference.
Ship tip
Although bar bills included 18% gratuity, many people like to add a tip for the bartender or waiter. Just a suggestion: rather than add the tip onto the sales slip that you sign, bring some $1’s with you so that you can give it to the person directly - it means that they get to keep it and it makes a big difference to them.
We have been here before but Carnival has done a lot of work since then. The pool area is lovely with lots of sun and shade spots. There’s a swim up bar and free water slides. Zip lining is available for a cost. We were the only ship in port and the pool area had lots of open loungers. We did the Mega Truck Puerto Plata country tour with lunch. The ride is in a Unimog type vehicle so was very loud and bumpy, and you need to be able to climb a ladder to get in the back of the truck. It was a great tour. We drove through Puerto Plata and saw the town and culture, and then went up into the mountains to see the villages and spectacular views and then stopped at a ranch for lunch. We really enjoyed this experience to be able to see more of the country than just the port area.
Stunning! We took the Exclusive Yacht and Snorkel excursion and loved it. So nice to be on a smaller boat with only 12 passengers so it was a nice personalized service. The snorkelling in Bonaire is amazing! We saw so many beautiful and large fish. This is a beautiful port and we can’t wait to visit again.
Definitely not what we expected. We were expecting tropical and lush and it was very desert-like. Lots of spectacular scenery and good shopping very close to the ship. Nice short pier too.
If you choose to self-assist, that is take your own luggage off the ship, you just need to wait until they call your muster station. If you want to check your luggage, the day before disembarkation, they set up a board in two locations where you can pick up luggage tags for the time you’d like to get off the ship. We set our luggage out the night before between 8:30 and 11pm. Since you have to vacate your room by 8:30am, it was very nice not having to drag our luggage around with us until we could get off the ship. The entire process was very smooth. From the time our section was called, we were about 10 minutes to the curb. It was the first time we hadn’t prearranged transportation and the taxi stand was very well-coordinated. Staff were there directing passengers and the taxis. Very impressive!
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