Oh I wrote too much already. I'm absolutely certain that I covered most everything. It wasn't a total loss, it was just disappointing.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Completely uneventful; which is all you can ask for.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
A real step down from other carnival ships/cruises. Buffet was simply not good. Main dinning room drown every meat and fish in sauce.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
Frigid pool, 2 forward and 2 aft hot tubs were consequently stuffed with kids. Advertising did it's job on how nice watersides were, how grand ropes course was, etc.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Piano bar told the crowd more often than not what a terrible song whatever they were requetsting was. Would play 3 lines of it then quite. Consiquently, we never made a request. We didn't spend much time there despite loving piano bars on previous Carnival cruise. Comedy show was all of 20 minutes. It was good, but way too short. Needed another act.
Children's Programs
4 out of 5
11 year old was supposed to be in the cap ocean group with the 5 year olds. Luckily the next kids group up (11 - 14 year olds) was nice enough to let our 11 year old join. She had a good time there.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Crew was outstanding for the most part. In the dining room, Elena and Ali were truly exceptional; all we would expect from fine dining. Alchemy bar Alexander and Dragica were not only amazing bartenders, truly the best we've seen, but they were also so much fun. The two of them are crew that we would honestly seek out again, picking another cruise next time in part just because they are on it. We are both smokers, so we spent a good bit of time at the casino bar, Ayhan and Antonyu were always on the spot helping not only us, but everyone. They were both friendly guys and very helpful. There were 2 other bartenders were always on site as well but we didn’t write down their names unfortunately. I point out this whole team because they ran their butts off keeping everyone at that bar well taken care of. Really put themselves into it and it showed. Great job. Our steward Gusti was such a helpful, friendly, always on the spot guy. We couldn’t have asked for better. He was often just right in the hallway taking care of someone and greeting us by name, asking how our day was going, and trying his best to stay out of the way with servicing the room. Which by the way was always 100% once he’d been there. By the way, thanks for the towel animals too. Was a daily smile. I do not know his title, but Steven with the entertainment team was outstanding as well. He was always so cheerful, always smiling. Steven, you helped a thousand people last week get into / stay in a “I’m having fun” mood.
Finally, guest services on the other hand, while always helpful were not friendly nor cheerful. It was a chore when we needed to talk to them but they did always take care of our problem at hand. So they are kind of a mixed review for everyone we dealt with there.
Ship Quality
1 out of 5
Despite 200 million dollar renovation, ship was still a hodgepodge of pieces that didn't fit together. Serenity deck on this ship is an odd afterthought for example. It is two decks, broken into 4 sections with only one awkwardly placed hot tub and an after through bar stuffed in a corner. Just weird. Directions to get around the ship are similar to the old joke "you can't get there from here". I do not know how else to explain, no you cannot get there outside walkways. No you cannot cross this deck. Go up 2 decks, over to mid ship elevators, through the casino, then down the stairs...this is directions from one restaurant to another.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Great view. Steward was awesome. Layout of cabin had us tripping over each other all week.
Amazing blue water, soft sand...end of the good.
Rough water due to storms in the area canceled many excursions. That happens. Our's wasn't cancelled, but the rough water put lives in danger. Truly, in danger. Snorkel equipment was leaking for more than half the group and a 3 hour snorkel excursion was cut down to 15-25 minutes. Including two rescues from the water. Bad bad. Additionally, due to prior hurricane damage, the island is mostly boarded up closed buildings. Not ready for prior time if you will.
Beautiful country. Beautiful people. Poor as it gets, but great people despite it all. GO ON THE WATERFALL EXCURSION! GO WITH MEGA ADVENTURES. Awesome company, David was a terrific guide.
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