A great anniversary trip with friends and no kids. Loved the ship, crew and for the most part the ports.
Embarkation
2 out of 5
What a disaster! Check in time was between 130 and 2, we arrived right at 130 and the line was crazy long outside the building. Inside, was so mush worse. And if you tried putting any distance between you and the people in front of you, the staff would bark at you to move up. So much for social distancing.
Half the xray machines where not being used, and regardless of card status, people getting covid tested at the port would get put into the Diamond/ Platinum or Suite lines.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
With one exception every where we ate was very good, with excellent customer service. That exception qas the seafood shack. The customer service was awful, and the food matched. Clam chowder was very water with little flavor, lobster roll was mostly mayo, and the crab cake tasted like tuna and cabbage.
Horizon and Vista Restaurants
5 out of 5
Our waitstaff were phenomenal, as always. The head waiter, Rolando, made me laugh from just his expressive eyes. I was a tad disappointed they couldn't remove masks even for a quick photo. But I understand.
Havana Bar & Pool
5 out of 5
We stayed in the Havana cabins, so this bar was super close. The attendants were very much on top of making sure those that were not supposed to be back there, were moved along. They were constantly mopping, and still on top of cleaning protocol.
Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse
5 out of 5
Excellent service, wonderful food.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
We had Lee Mason as our cruise director, for our second time. He is always a lot of fun and energy.
We went to the Love and Marriage show. Talk about hysterical!
Also, did bingo, wheely big challenge (we won), Celebrity heads, most of the stage shows in the Liquid Lounge, and part of 1 agonizing Karaoke.
Tides Pool
5 out of 5
We didn't use the pool, but Marko at the Tides bar was awesome.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The Djs didn't mix the music up very much. The stage shows are not what they have been formerly, but overall they were enjoyable. There was one singer that didn't have a strong enough voice to be heard over the music, and there was one or 2 minor glitches on the technical side, but all easily overlooked.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Islah was our room steward. He was awesome. Rarely was there anything we would need.
Our dining staff were great, though they didn't always get our entire groups sense of humor. Our head waiter had the most expressive eyes. When we ordered the lobster tail, he would ask how many and look disappointed when the answer was just 1.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Once you get the layout down it was easy to get around. Not sure if it is just because it is bigger, but several of the things that are on higher decks are usually on lower decks on older ships.
There was always staff everywhere cleaning. Wiping down the most commonly touched spaces, handrails, bars, elevator buttons, etc.
The fun shops where kind of disappointing. The liquor store is quite large, as is the jewelry store. This ship also has the larger Cherry on top, which was nice. However, they had a very large makeup/ perfume store that seemed excessive and unnecessary.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
This was our first time in an aft room. It wasn't as bad as expected. Plenty of room, great location to elevators, Havana Bar, Ocean Plaza, Java Blue. And since it's the Promenade, it does go around ND through very easily.
Ship tip
Don't go out of Long Beach.
Learn the layout, grab a drink of choice and sit back and relax.
I had higher expectations for here. The roads were terrible, the port terminal was mildly confusing to get through/around. The heavily armed guard at the entrance and at the gate to the ship were kind of disconcerting.
The port area itself looks like storage container heaven. You literally cannot see the terminal for all the containers. A tram is readily available take you and bring you back.
You can tell the city is putting money into it to attract more tourists
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