Overall, the cruise was a disappointment. Way too much waiting, not enough playing.
Most people were exceptionally awesome, but as with anything, a couple bad experiences can ruin it.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Up until the time we got on the ship, it was excellent. Once on the ship, I feel like the people receiving us there were a little rude. Treated us like we should know which way was which.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
The actual food was fine. The hours/availability were frustrating. They need to have the buffet open all day. When the buffet wasn't open, the line at the pizza place was 45-60 minutes. It was ridiculous.
The soda passes would be great if you could really get a soda whenever you wanted. But you have to get your sodas from the bar. Literally the only option. Ever. #1 - I hated that my young kids literally had to go to a bar to get a soda. #2 - Having to wait for someone to hand you a glass with ice and a can of soda was ridiculous. It's not that hard. Have a few FreeStyle machines or soda fountains, with an employee checking soda passes. Problem solved. The bar thing was ridiculous.
Also, the only place on the entire ship to get water was on Deck 10. And then they close all of them but the one in the very back of the ship later in the evening. It's pretty frustrating.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
Water slides - water was friggin freezing. We paid over $1,000 a person. Can we not heat the water on a day that's 70 degrees?
Basketball Court - WHY does it close at 5:30? This was SO FRUSTRATING. We chose this ship because of the sports court. The hours of the basketball court were lame.
Pickleball and Volleyball were advertised and shown on the ship's page - Turns out the pickleball and volleyball courts ARE the basketball court. They had exactly ONE pickleball tournament the entire week, and it was for ages 18+. Not exactly the family activity we were expecting. Same with volleyball. I think they had 2 volleyball tournaments. Again, 18+.
There is no pickleball court. There is no volleyball court. There is one basketball court, and no one under the age of 18 can play pickleball or volleyball.
Entertainment
2 out of 5
The Panorama Band was awesome!
The 3 people on strings were awesome!
The solo guy on the guitar was awesome.
The stage shows were disappointing. Super talented people, but weird shows. Just something more normal would be cool.
The Dalai Llama comedian guy - sucked. We went to the PG show with our entire family on Christmas night and sure, there was no foul language. But the content was much older than PG. Why would you make jokes about different religions, especially in a PG show? Jews? Really? We're gonna crack jokes about Jews right now? Read the room, bro. There's a war going on out there. There were jokes of a sexual nature, religious nature, and lots of stuff that was just over the heads of our kids.
The cruise director was fine, but we think the guy who taught the disco dance lessons should be the cruise director. He was super fun and would be so great at it!
Disco Dance Lessons were AWESOME!!
Deal or No Deal - a JOKE! Started an hour late. I understand something was down with their system, but they were taking participants 45 minutes after it was supposed to start. How about we cut off the people signing up, so your person can enter the barcodes and we can get started? And then at the end, we're told to show up tomorrow morning at a different location to collect our prize. Another 45-minute line to get my Bingo package. Do yourself a favor. Skip the games.
They used to be fun. Now they're just a waste of 3 hours.
Children's Programs
1 out of 5
We had a horrible experience with this, as our son was bullied by another kid in the club, and shoved to the ground. We reported it to the club leader and she said she had taken care of it and that the bully would be kicked out of the clubs for the remainder of the week. Well, he wasn't. He returned to the club and was there the rest of the week. We understand that this was one employee's mistake, but when we brought it to the attention of the staff at the end of the week, we had to twist everyone's arms to do anything about it. Literally on the way out the door, they called and offered us $200 off our bill. But it wasn't any of the people we had spoken to the night before. They had a front desk person call, who had no authority to bargain, and she said it had to be resolved before we left the ship. Basically, we got screwed and there was nothing we could do about it.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
All waiters and room stewards were freaking rockstars and awesome!!!
The guy who runs the comedy club is a grade A a**hole. He was condescending and rude at every interaction we had with him.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The ship was super clean!
The only thing about the layout was that some levels didn't go all the way through, so it made navigating the ship difficult.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Cabin was super clean, the bed and pillows were super comfortable, and suitcases fit under the bed, which was awesome.
Ship tip
Online it says that you can take up to 12 cans of soda on the ship (in your carry-on, not your checked bags). They totally let you carry on a box of 12 cans. Don't bother putting them in your backpack - just bring the whole box!
Sorry your kid was pushed by another kid. How much money did you want to be paid for that so you didn’t feel “screwed”? I agree that the buffet should be open all day. The only line that does that is Princess but you would probably hate that line because not a lot of sports. Maybe try a resort with a big sports complex.
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