Amazing Experience Aboard and Ashore

Efficient and simple, it was definitely worthwhile to arrive 2 hrs early so we could relax and start our vacation right away!

The food at the buffet was good, overall. I did wish there were more choices or that the choices switched out more often or weren't so similar from day to day. One specific thing we noticed was the bacon at the breakfast buffets and for room service was overcooked to the point that they were hardened like a rock. Towards the second half of the trip, though, the bacon improved and was cooked perfectly. I really enjoyed our Your Time Dining dinners at Normandie; I liked the "rare finds" options and looked forward to trying something new every time. I also enjoyed the bursts of entertainment and dancing from the waitstaff.

Activities: Serenity Retreat, Trivia (Game of Thrones), Rated R Comedy Shows, Karaoke, and an 80s Guess That Song party, Dive in Movies I LOVED the adults-only comedy show, particularly comedians Manny Oliviera and DJ Cooch. They were hysterical and had me crying. I also liked the way the comedians' acts and lineup rotated nightly allowing us flexibility. Fluffy was also very great at warming up the audience beforehand; I enjoyed her a lot. I loved that there was an adults-only pool. Only minor complaint there was I read there was a policy on not reserving loungers and items would be removed after 40 minutes but it wasn't very enforced. I enjoyed that there were different themed trivia games, they were fun and a laid-back easy way to pass the time. We loved Savanna (our Cruise Director) at the 80s Guess That Song Party. Her outfit and hosting skills were on point. I had only heard her over the loudspeaker before but to see her in person rocking out was awesome!

Did not attend these activities

Do not have children

I must say, this is an often overlooked part of an experience aboard a cruise ship or a resort, but the waiters and room stewards truly made us feel welcome and made us feel our cabin was a home away from home. I'd like to specifically express my appreciation for Luis, the headwaiter at Normandie; he truly was a delight, and created such a warm and fun experience for us every night that we kept coming back and even requested to be seated in his area. He took the time to remember our names and what we liked and was so happy to be onboard this ship with us; he is a memorable character and I want him to be recognized for his outstanding customer service. Not only was he good at what he did, he also seemed to really enjoy what he was doing, which is a rarity these days. I would also like to recognize two other room stewards, Rowena and Jan Niro. Rowena was our actual room steward and we were pleasantly surprised when she took the time to drop by our cabin on the first night and introduce herself and ask us about our housekeeping preferences. Every time we saw Rowena in the hallway, she always took the time to genuinely greet us and give us the warmest smile, and again, just like Luis, she took the time to remember our names. Not only was Rowena super friendly and helpful, she also performed her job efficiently and diligently every single day. To come back to a clean cabin after a long hot day on an island excursion was an incredible feeling, and I know that wouldn't have been possible without Rowena's hard work (we also loved her towel animals!). Rowena and Jan Niro made us feel like family on our little hallway. While Jan Niro was not our personal room steward, he also took the time to get to know us, and genuinely greeted us like a member of his family whenever he saw us. Again, the level of customer service among the room stewards we encountered were outstanding, and both Rowena and Jan Niro should be recognized and commended.

This was my first cruise so I was a little disoriented at first, but the overall layout of the ship started to become clearer towards the second half of our cruise. The only issue we had was finding the gangway on Deck A when we tried to get off the ship on our first island excursion. Me, along with a group of other travelers who had also never been on a cruise, struggled with finding the gangway and even mistakenly entered crew areas. There was a sign when we got to the first deck pointing us in the general direction but it was a little unclear and could have been more specific.

The cabin was exactly what we wanted; it was totally worth it to spend a little extra to get our own balcony. The balcony was much roomier and more private than I had imagined, which we appreciated. I loved that there was a couch in our room and a coffee table where we could eat breakfast. There wasn't much walking room when you had two larger sized suitcases on the floor (and nowhere else to store it) but that was a minor issue. I thought the design of the bathroom shelves were very efficient. I made full use of the hangers and the closet which I have never done anywhere else I've stayed at for a vacation/extended period of time. The number of towels provided to us was more than enough, but it's always nice to have a little bit more than you think you might need.

It went very smoothly. We didn't attend the presentation but just reading the material they gave us the night before in our cabin was enough. Also, it might have been good to rerun the presentation for perhaps an hour-long block at different points during the day to ensure everyone had another chance to catch it. The only other semi-criticism I had was based on what I read, we were anticipating on not getting called off the ship until almost 12pm, but we were called way earlier, which is a fantastic thing but led to some miscommunication with the person coming to pick us up. It made it a little bit challenging to coordinate a pickup time, since first we thought it would be around 10am (the listed port arrival time) but then after reading the disembarkation pamphlet, it seemed like it would be much better. It ended up being somewhere in between, which is totally fine; it was just a tad bit challenging to coordinate with our ride back home.