We took the Christmas and New Year's cruise, 10 days. I must say that the ship is a decent size, but there is not enough to do on board for 10 days. The ship is geared more towards those that have families. The weather was phenomenal and the excursions were a good value. However, at the ports that we did not have an excursion, there was not much to do and the excursions did involves quite a bit of travel time. The stateroom steward was AMAZING. We are fairly tidy people and pick up after ourselves, but to straighten our shoes and turn down the covers for us was great. I was truly impressed in this area. However, I was disappointed in the dining options. All of the buffet lines serve the same thing in the mornings and there is a deli option for lunch/dinner, but the buffet lines still serve the same thing. The pizza station was disgusting. I'm not sure what type of cheese is still super stringy and slides off the pizza (like hot pizza does) when it's COLD? I'm not sure if the cheese was fake or not, but it was gross. The dining room food was good, but our waitor offered very poor service. We decided not to eat here every night because of this. For example, we were one of the first tables to sit and one of the last to leave because we would just be sitting while he served the others, rather rude. The shows were good, but repeated. It was a good value, but I might opt for a shorter cruise or different line next time.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
The dining room food was good and there were several options. However, the waitor was rude and innatentative. We had a substitute waitor one night, and he was amazing! He offered recommendations, checked on us, made sure our drinks were full, etc. We did not receive such service with our main waitor, which hindered us from dining there and his tip. The dining was confusing because our party was split by their mistake and it took them two days to fix it as well.
Entertainment
1 out of 5
Most of the activities were geared towards children or there was gambling. I am a young married person, without children, and found these two options were not appealing to us. The hypnotist was a joke...The schedule was laid out well, but I wish there was more time in port. Leaving port at 2 in the afternoon is not good, especially to return to a ship that does not have anything going on except camp carnival and the repeat show from the day before. I can say we laid out a lot and played a lot of card games with another couple because we were bored.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
The staff was overall good and helpful. I found the barstaff/waitors to be on the rude side. Anytime you watch a show, you are asked like every 2-4 minutes if you want a drink which takes away from the experience of enjoying a show. On the other hand the waitor was inattentative. The stateroom steward was, hands-down, amazing.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
There are portraits of naked people all over the ship, and yet the ship is geared towards families? I found in inappropriate, but I'm not sure many children noticed. I was dissapointed by the lack of Christmas decor since it was a Christmas cruise. There were some wreaths in the theatre, and that was about it. There were restrooms near all areas and easily accessed. The ship size was decent, but I was unhappy with some of the layout. The main dining room is on the second level in the front of the ship, and it shook constantly while the ship was moving. I'm not sure if there were engines under there or what, but it was loud.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
The stateroom offered plenty of room, the bed was comfortable enough and there was a great amount of closet space. However, there was no iron in the room and if you want to use one, you have to pay to have it pressed...which is a rip-off when I can spend 10 minutes and do it myself. Most of the rooms were on the middle of the ship, but we were on the lowest level, away from our party, but it worked out because more activities are closer to the bottom of the ship. I was also a little dissatisfied that there was not a clock in the room and makes it a hassle to constantly wear/take off a watch without an alarm clock.
Pros: warm weather
Cons: lack of christmas decoration and food options
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