This trip was the first time our grandchildren traveled out of the country and they we absolutely living their best life. We had an amazing family trip with staff who took care of anything we needed, incredible and delicious food options, and activities and ports that kept us busy provided wonderful experiences and memories to cherish always. We hope to do another cruise again soon!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Getting on the ship was the quickest and most efficient experience that we've ever had and this time we did it with several family members making it possible for more challenges.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
All of the food was amazing, although it was very crowded (to be expected on a ship with so many passengers) to get anything at the buffets. The main dining room choices were always excellent, even for two picky kids. Our grandson especially loved the soft serve machine which he visited multiple times every day!!! The sit down breakfast in the main dining room on sea days were another great family option and the food was wonderful without standing in a long buffet line.
Our favorite bars were the Alchemy Bar and the bar next to the stern pool.
One thing we didn't really like at all was the Dr. Seuss breakfast. We thought that the menu included that items not on the special menu for the adults because it showed it on the app, there wasn't coffee available until we asked and it took a long time to come. The food was slow coming out, got cold before it all arrived, and there wasn't enough wait staff to help us. The characters never came to our table and given that we paid extra for it, we would never do it again. It just didn't seem to be overall very well organized.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
We loved the hot tubs, water slide, and rope climbing. The pools were generally very crowded so didn't go into them but several of us used the running track in the morning. We also went to a lot of trivia and my grandson was thrilled to win one of the hole in one golf medals!
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The late night entertainment was a big hit for our party. The silent white hot party was everyone's favorite. 80's night was also fun for the whole family.
Children's Programs
The kids signed up but since they are 11 and 13, they ended up staying with the rest of the family and did activities with us.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Our waiters and room steward are what made our time truly amazing on the ship. Our room steward, Rozaq, took care of our room with great care and even wrote us a message on the mirror for our anniversary with heart shaped towels. He was always personable and one day when we discovered a leak from the ceiling along the wall, he got his supervisor right on it and the plumbers came and fixed it before we hardly knew about it during the morning.
Our waiter, Maryonon, and his crew were just incredible. After the first day, he knew pretty much what most of us were drinking when we sat down, he was very patient and helpful with the kids and their picky diets, and our granddaughter developed a milk type allergy just before the cruise so helped in every way to get her things that she could eat and appealed to her. She is somewhat shy and he made her feel comfortable to speak up and order what she wanted...even having edible straws ready for her every evening with her drink. We all looked forward to dinner every night knowing that it was the highlight of the day!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
I noticed that staff were constantly cleaning common areas and from day to day, you would hardly realize the amount of people based on the constant cleaning and picking up after everyone.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We loved our little balcony room. On our last cruise we had a balcony and decided that we wouldn't ever go on a cruise without one. We especially loved this balcony because it was very private. As I said earlier, our room steward, Rozaq, kept it immaculate.
We could not visit due to hurricane. Instead, on Thursday, we went to Nassau. It was nice in that we were at least able to explore a new place, do some shopping, and ate at a local restaurant, but definitely would have rather gone to Puerto Rico. The crew, however, did their best to give us a great experience for the week and none of us can help how the weather and a hurricane will effect our trip. Essentially, we sailed all week never realizing that a hurricane was going on around the islands due to the excellent navigation and rerouting that took place.
We did a catamaran snorkeling excursion that we excellent. Because we ended up getting routed away from Puerto Rico, the original excursion was not available so we were able to get on another one. The crew on the boat were so much fun, the family all loved the snorkeling, and we had a great lunch and drinks provided afterward.
This was our favorite destination and next time we would definitely like to see more of the island. We ended up doing a fun beach day. The beach was beautiful, shopping was great, and the water was perfect. Our day was cut a couple hours short due to weather but we definitely want to go back!
Disembarking is always the hardest part of the cruise and given the number of people that need to get off, it went pretty smooth. The staff were very patient with some more unruly passengers and I give them a lot of credit for knowing how to handle and resolve the difficult passengers.
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