Overall I appreciated this cruise experience. Being my first cruise I didn't have a lot of expectations other than to say that I got to relax without having to do all the work or cooking and cleaning and to enjoy the ports. There ware definitely some aspects of the cruise that I would look for in future cruises like the pools, the quality of the shows and age range of the cruises. I definitely prefer cruises with an older crowd as I don't want to be dealing with rowdy 20 year olds, but the cruise was definitely geared more towards those in their 60s and 70s. The safety video at the beginning of the cruise was also I believe a waste of time. We could have a much more efficient informative video had the situation of an emergency been taken more seriously by the staff and whomever organized that ridiculous video we had to watch.
I appreciate that staff members were from all over the world on this cruise line and most were so engaging in conversation and attentive and very service orientated.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Location was easy to find. Line moved easily. Attendant was pleasant, in a good attitude, and very welcoming.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Dining room food: most of the food was amazing! Lots of selections for both dinner and dessert. Flavoring of the food in the formal dining was fantastic. Food was always hot and flavorful. Table was always nicely cleaned and staff was fantastic.
Buffet: breakfast options weren't always the best. Quality of the sausages and eggs didn't look appetizing to me at all. Overall the location was very clean, and staff were mostly friendly and engaging.
Bars: wait staff didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry to help. Drinks seemed very small and on the watered down side of flavor.
Café al Bacio & Gelateria
5 out of 5
Great service. Pleasant, fast, listened carefully to my coffee order and got me what I asked for without a problem.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Game/Trivia: mostly were a way to get involved but nothing that we just had to do.
Poolside activities were fun to watch.
Fitness Center
3 out of 5
Most of the equipment at the gym was great to have and I used it several times while I was there. I wish the classes were complimentary as part of the cruise. So that was a let down. Love to run and was excited to see all the treadmill. First I would reposition the treadmill to be facing the front or the rear of the ship. Running perpendicular to the motion of the water made me feel unsteady and more likely to fall. Also the age of the treadmills were visible and I could feel the lack of cushion about 5 different machines, along with the fact that every single one made a noise that sounded like it was on it's last leg. Not what I expected.
Entertainment
1 out of 5
The first night's show was awful! There is no other way to put it. The show was vague and had no direction or story. The choreography was poor at best and the acting/singing was painful to watch. The second show we watched was Uptown. They were much much better than the first show! Entertaining, energetic, fun, and exciting. The music was great and the talent was there.
Comedy: Carl Banks was amazing, relatable, funny!
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Formal dining room: the Aleksandr and Nitin were fantastic. They were attentive and engaging. Responsive to our request and had a wonderful pleasant demeanor the entire time. Rafael - would room steward was amazing. Very helpful with onboard information and information to help us prepare to leave the ship towards the end of the cruise. Room was always clean and he always fulfilled our request, be it towels or extra blankets, in a speedy manner.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Being my first cruise, I can't speak to the design of the ship, however it was apparent that a ship with almost 3000 guests and two rather small pools doesn't make it for an easy time in the water. There were several hot tubs and they were all clean and well cared for. The ship was very clean in all other areas as well.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Size was great. Small enough to keep everything close and neat during the trip. For a cabin that is being shared, I thought it had a good amount of closet and storage space. The cabin was unfortunately directly over a smoking area, which for someone with asthma and trouble breathing, it would have been great to know that before! Or relocate the smoking area to an area that won't affect people in their rooms where they cannot get away from the smell. Because my room was a double, I didn't appreciate that the bed was smaller than a twin sized bed. I thought that made sleeping a little uncomfortable, but overall I the room quality and size were great.
Ship tip
Walk around the whole thing in the first two days. There were areas that still came as a surprise on day three and four - like the rear of the Cafe where there was outside seating and around the corner was a lawn and chairs to enjoy.
The start of the cruise. First time in Florida and the driving was a bit of a mess and easy to become lost when the same street has two to three names. Spent the day up in Jupiter to get away from all of the crowds.
Absolutely loved this port. Its important to get out of the ship ASAP and get going before the town wakes up and becomes really busy. Most people like Sloppy Joe's but we opted for the Green Parrot. Saw some wonderful characters at this bar and had some great conversations. Hemingway's house was amazing and a place I will absolutely be visiting again.
Got in a taxi right when we got out of the shopping area and got away from all the touristy stuff. Found a beach that locals go to by asking lots of questions of the driver and advice on where they like to go on a fund day with their families and sat and enjoyed the weather and water for the day.
Again, we did the same thing. Didn't bother with the ferry, especially with the threat to the cruisers at this location. Found a beach that was about 20 minutes from the ship's port at the suggestion of the tour information guide at a local hotel near all the shopping and headed off.
This was a late start day for us. We were told that at 9am tickets were going to be handed out for disembarkation and tinders. When we arrived at 8:50am to wait in line, tickets had already been handed out and 1-9 were gone. This level of disorganization is quite frustration. Not to mention that we were told not to wait in our rooms for when our Tinder number was called, we could be ready to go. Again we arrive before we are to start disembarking and the woman is having everyone from numbers 1-10 line up to leave the ship. If you are going to allow everyone to disembark at the same time, then you don't need to hand out tinder tickets and waste anyone's time to go and get it.
Weather wasn't the best of this day. The water was colder and current was stronger at this location for the day we went. Very windy as well. Still found a local bar with great food and drinks - Macabuca, off the tourist path and then visited Hell. We went to a hotel off 7 mile beach, had some lunch. This was the priciest location out of all the ports.
After no phones, internet, and a very calm week, coming back into port was very stressful and overwhelming. The disembarkation was later than we were told, then if you had luggage you were walking off you had to leave at one time, if you had your room attendants take your luggage it was later and you had to wait for all your luggage to be taken off the ship. So it was a bit of a hot mess regarding time and what we expected to time the rest of our day. Luckily I wasn't in a rush so it wasn't a big deal. In retrospect I would have stayed on the ship until I was done with breakfast and coffee and then disembarked at my leisure once all the crowds were done. If I did have to leave sooner rather than later, I would consider walking off with my bags instead of letting them take my bags for me so I didn't have to wait at the gate.
Regarding the video, we thought it was it was great. You must do the muster drill every time and it gets very old and you start to be there physically, but your mind is elsewhere on the boat. The movie was humorous enough to keep our attention so I thought it was well done. Never thought about a first time cruiser's perspective of it though.
Thank you for the review, great insight from a first time cruiser. Sounds like you learned some things that might make your next cruise better or at least will not supprise you; muster drills are a drag, don't rush to disembark if you don't have to, cigarette smoke stinks up the ship, pools are tiny, entertainment can be hit or miss, some of the food you may not like, etc. But despite the drawbacks cruising has lots of positives and can make a fabulous vacation. Hope to read more of your reviews in the future!
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