Would definitely do again but not any time soon. Gotta let some of the bad parts of Progresso wear off.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was very crowded but the lines moved very fast… they were herding us through there so quickly it wasn’t funny… a couple from our hometown arrived at the same time that we did (we parked next to each other and got out of our cars at the same time) but they made it to the lines before we did and we never saw them. We may have been 5 minutes behind them but we never saw them in line but there was never any delay and we were on the ship in no time flat!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
I only give it four stars because the last night the food was AWEFUL 🤮… every other night I was completely amazed by how good everything was. I do wish there were more picky toddler friendly items available but 🤷🏽♀️. Going back to the last night though, both the mdr and the buffet served this awful steak and ale soup that was straight beer. It looked good but tasted horrible. I had looked up the mdr menu earlier in the day and had made the decision to not go because they weren’t having anything we like, only to go to the buffet for the exact same thing 😩 Also the online menu showed that pizza pirate did pizza pirate plus at some point in the day and lasagna would be on the menu but we were never able to get it. They said it wasn’t available (?)
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
The staff worked really hard to make sure everyone had a great time. We went to the deal or no deal show, karaoke, and comedy shows as well as the sail away party and the salsa dancing class. Everything was kept high energy. Even when this cringy older lady with bad Spanish tried to hit on the male dance instructor in Spanish 😬 and then tried to insult his Spanish (he was a native Spanish speaker/ she wasn’t). Cruise Director Louis Clare kept everything really upbeat and we got to see him a LOT. Even when my husband and I went to one of the lounges for music and drinks to chill, we felt catered to. The musicians went out of their way to find songs that they didn’t practice to sing for us and they did really well. awesome everything!
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Top Notch!!!
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
My son completely enjoyed it. I think, besides going to the beach, the kids club was the highlight of the trip for him. They always had perfectly age appropriate games, shows, programs etc that kept him engaged, entertained and otherwise happy. Happy kid made for happy parents! Thanks to Maria and the other hardworking staff at camp ocean!
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Shoutout to our MDR server Nel who made sure that my picky toddler had chocolate milk every time we came into the MDR. He even got us one morning for breakfast and grabbed chocolate milk for him. Oh and he also remembered my son loves strawberries and made sure we had some. We loved that we were always greeted by name!
Our room steward, Deny, was awesome too. Even though that first day he was a bit perturbed at us for arriving right when the rooms were available ( He wasn’t quite done with the happy birthday decor and gifts that I had ordered for my husband’s birthday). He always made sure we had fresh towels and my son had towel animals to enjoy. Thanks guys for making our trip awesome!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Everything was always so tidy and neat. The only time we saw anything sitting around was on the very first day and the “manager” (I don’t know his title) made absolutely sure that it was cleared immediately. It had seriously only been a moment or two since the passenger had gotten up. The definitely run a tight ship (pun intended lol)
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
It did run a bit hot around 2 am each night but otherwise it was good. There was one night we smelled weed throughout the room. I think the ventilation system was spreading it around. It made me so sick. But otherwise no problems and I think whoever was smoking the weed was arrested before we got off the ship. Someone said the cops/authorities came aboard as soon as we docked that morning or escort someone from our floor off. Hope they had a good cruise before that. 🤷🏽♀️
Ship tip
If you have kids, book a room that’s forward so you only have to go to the forward elevators and go up. We spent a good portion of our trip walking the length of the ship to get to camp ocean 😩 but our son loved it!
The people selling stuff were relentless. There was no telling how many times going through the bus terminal and sitting on the free beach that we had to tell vendors no. Every time you tell one person no, there was some else in your face with the same or similar object attempting to make a sale 😡. Otherwise very beautiful place with nice people. Definitely want to go back but book an excursion!!! Even if it’s one at the bus terminal!
edited to add: before we even got off the free shuttle, they were attempting to sell excursions and the bathrooms are $5 to use. Very clean though.
If I could give 6 stars I would! It was so easy. I had researched for over two years (covid) every part of the cruise ship vacation experience and this was the part that worried me the most but it was so easy. The only drawback being that they don’t show you how to get down to the third floor to get off the ship. So many areas are blocked off and for staff use only so they can do their turnover work, that it almost seems like an entirely different ship on that day. A total maze to get off but who really wants to get off anyway 😩.
Welcome to the wonderful world of cruising. Glad you mostly enjoyed your first cruise. Hope you are able to sail again and have a better experience. I recommend you avoid Jamaica, they also are relentless when pestering you to buy items.
Thanks for the review. Been a few years since we’ve been on her & going in December. Progreso’s people are relentless selling. I hate being rude but that’s one port I quit saying “no” when they ask if I want to buy something and ignore them. I can only imagine the names they’re calling me 😂
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