My 3rd & last cruise. Language barriers. Smoking allowed. Herded like cattle. Lack of entertainment. Unimpressive.
Embarkation
2 out of 5
Barely made it aboard due to flight delays. Language barriers with staff onboard caused difficulty in figuring where to go for anything.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Food was mostly just ok. Main dining with our waiter, Lucas, was nice. Buffets consisted mostly of pork options, or beef hotdogs or burgers. The only meat I found to be wonderful from buffet was the jerk chicken. Since dining areas were closed off most of the time, I didn't know where to fill my refreshments cup. When they give the cup, they should provide details on where to find filling stations. I was informed there were only 2! Both on deck 9, at opposite ends of the ship. It wasn't until late the 2nd day tgat a passenger told me I could have refreshments filled at each bar also. When I'd asked the crew, none thought to tell me this. Bar tenders never had adequate help, so they were stressed & never smiled. Despite me getting non-alcoholic beverages from them, I still tipped fairly. Chikdren were allowed to get their own food at the buffets. And they coughed all over things while touching everything. Also, before the cruise, I read that pizza & ice cream, etc were available 24-7. This is untrue!
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
The 2 Pools were too cold to enjoy. The 4-6 hot tubs seemed to always be full. And despite the many signs telling passengers not to save seating at the pool for more than 30 minutes less their items would be removed and left at the desk, this was never enforced. There were only 2 comedy shows the entire cruise. Both on the last night. There were hardly any performances put on in the Palladium. Most activities requiring participation took place on 4th floor center, which was often packed and uncomfortable.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
The only show we were able to make it to was "Love & Marriage". It was fun & cute. The hostess was fun. There weren't enough shows to enjoy. Rather than having movies out on the pool deck, in those winds, couldn't the movies have been played in the Palladium instead of, ir at the same time as those at the pool? And why the same movies? The musicians on the 4th floor were fine. One band in particular wasn't great, but they tried.
It seemed to us that most activities were geared toward sales on deck 6. That's disappointing.
Children's Programs
2 Adults only
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
This is a tough one. Our cabin steward, Maufi, was a sweetheart & always on top of things. He needed some help with comprehending what we were saying to him in English. There were a few misunderstandings, but we appreciated him lots. Maufi's supervisor, Ruth was a sweetheart and a HUGE help in getting my bed to be comfortable so I could finally get some rest. This was after bringing it all to the attention of Sudhir at the front desk. Who also sent a bottle of wine to our cabin as a gift for our troubles. We appreciated that as well, but wish he too would have understood what we needed a little more clearly when we spoke. Again, it was a language barrier.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
We walked past the same Ibuprofen sitting in the floor for 3 days on one of the decks. As well as blood on the pool deck. Most of it was clean, but certain things stood out to tell us things weren't cleaned the best they could have been. Like our glasses in our cabin the first day...there was a lump of dried toothpaste left in one of our glasses (probably by a previous guest). The glass was turned upside-down inside of its coaster as if it were clean.
We didn't know there would be smoking allowed in the casino and in common deck areas. This caused us both to get bronchitis. And we both returned home with Flu A & bronchitis which we're receiving medical attention for.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
The size of the cabin & its many storage spaces was a welcome surprise. At first glance, it seemed to be well-kept. Until we discovered one of our drinking glasses which contained a blop ofcold, dried toothpaste inside of it. My bed had a dip in the middle. Pre-cruise, I requested mattress toppers for both beds. But that hadn't been relayed to our sweet cabin steward, Maufi. When I asked him, he immediately found what he could to fix it. Unfortunately, all he found was something not much thicker than a wash cloth folded in fours. When Ruth was made aware, she helped Maufi to find something much more substantial. Our cabin was cleaned & restocked each time we left it. We asked to have a pitcher of ice water left each day, but the kitchen staff seemed to misunderstand this request every time we asked. They'd bring us 1 glass of water, or an empty glass, or try to charge for bottled water. I didn't understand why this was such a difficult issue.
Ship tip
I'll never cruise again, personally. But if you do, go with the newest & biggest one there is and be sure there's always something going on!
Beautiful. So windy that the sand pelted us unrelentlessly. The steward over us on the beach, Oneil, was warm and friendly. As was the life guard, Junior. But those selling merchandise were rude, pushy, and would let you know how they really felt if you decided not to make a purchase. One in particular kept handing me items that were the wrong size & color, no matter how many times we'd explained it. And when we first arrived, he yelled to us, "last stop! I tell you it's ladt stop, but you don't get off. Get off"! He didn't know if we'd planned to ride the tram for awhile. It was rather rude.
Began unsupervised on deck 4. But when the crew came to assist, they almost made matters worse and confused some ofcthe guests, which resulted in the guests arguing with one another.
Cruising is not for everyone and the small ships are for a special type of cruiser. My husband and I prefer the small and medium to the bells and whistle big ships.
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