This cruise for me was OK. I would do it again only if I had a friend or two to go with me.
Most of the staff were very friendly and nice but there were a few people that were extremely rude or negligent that really put a damper on my vacation. I expected more from the spa and I was overcharged so I would never go there again.
It was very annoying having to sign a paper every time I bought something. I know they want you to add an extra tip but maybe ask if I want to sign or something. I noticed they didn't use straws but they wasted a ridiculous amount of paper in this way. Especially since you can see it on your online account almost right away. What about adding a little button next to the amount on the app or when you see your account on the TV screen to add a tip. That would probably save a tree a cruise I think.
The shows were great! I loved every one that I saw. I would have gladly paid extra if I had to. If there had been more of them available I would have seen them.
Coco Cay was not for me. However, I am not a beach or water park person so I am not a good person to judge this by. San Juan, Puerto Rico was my favorite stop and I would have gladly had another day or two there.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Some of the people were quite rude, like the person who took our luggage, but the closer we got to the ship the nicer people became. The wait was long but the line was moving.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
I was disappointed in the main dining room. The food was ok but by no means great. Most of the time the service was good but the last day we had to wait a long time for our food and drinks. They didn't even ask if we liked any of it, and some of the things were not for me. The other restaurants were good. Wonderland was good but maybe a little overrated. (It might be too sophisticated for my tastes. Sabor was great, the specialty margaritas were very good. Cafe Promenade was very good, it is buffet style mostly and the small space made it more pleasant to eat relax there. I was disappointed by the drinks at some of the bars, the casino especially. Maybe they were too busy but they did not make my drinks the way I wanted and seemed to rush through it. There was not ever really a long line for a drink as I have experienced in the past on cruises so that was good. I went to the buffet one time. I walked through and there was not even a seat open. I left without getting any food and did not return.
Boot and Bonnet Pub
5 out of 5
All of the bartenders and waiters were extremely nice and friendly. They made my drinks right every time and even made conversation when I was alone. I wish I would have found this place earlier in my trip.
Sabor
5 out of 5
The food and margaritas were great. The servers were very nice and helpful. I went to the guacamole class twice and it was great every time. It would have been a little better if it wasn't at 10:30 in the morning. This was one of my favorite places.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
I went to the guacamole class, the martini class, and the wine and whiskey tasting. They were all great. I missed the sushi and sake pairing because the day was wrong on the app but I think that would have been great as well. The people running the classes were really enthusiastic and friendly. These were my favorite parts of the cruise, aside the shows.
These were all great and it would have been a 5 except I went to the spa. I was charged more then I was told and the experience was disappointing. I thought in a place so expensive they would have steam rooms, and hot tubs or something but as far as I could tell they did not or they didn't tell me.
Vitality at Sea Spa and Fitness Center
2 out of 5
I went for a massage 2 times. The massage was ok although not what I was expecting. My real problem with this place was that I was charged more then I expected the first time. The second time I didn't get a price but I scheduled the same thing I got the first time only 15 minutes longer, I was charged almost twice as much. While this is my fault for not inquiring about the price before the appointment at these prices if the difference is that much I think the customer should be informed.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
I saw Grease, Columbus, the two aqua shows, and two ice skating shows. They were awesome. I wish they had more of them. I would have liked to have seen a lot of them more then once. My favorite was the aqua shows. They had so much going on that I couldn't watch it all at once but, everything I saw was great.
Comedy Club
4 out of 5
The comedians were ok but the setup was not good. There were huge poles throughout the club that obstructed the view and the seating was very close making it difficult to get in and out.
Dazzles
4 out of 5
The place was nice and had a lot of space. The bartenders were good there but the servers took a long time for such a small space. The thing that bothered me the most at this place was the volume of the music. It was ridiculously loud.
Children's Programs
I have no children.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
This is hard to compare. Some of the service was great. The Boot and Bonnet Pub, The Wonderland Bar, Sabor and some of the waiters in the Main Ding Room were exceptional. They were nice, friendly, and helpful. However, some of the people were not helpful and occasionally rude.
The first day I didn't see my room steward and I had several issues. By the end of the night I had to call the housekeeping line to see if they could fix it. The person I talked to was not very helpful but she eventually sent someone, supposedly to help. When they came they ignored everything I said, never even introduced themselves, and rudely told me that they were wearing a body cam. They fixed the safe (one of the 5 issued that I had) and left without even acknowledging my other issues. I have no idea who this person was or why they were so rude but it put a damper on the rest of my trip. I also felt that I couldn't ask for anything else that I wanted.
Some of the bartenders, I mainly noticed this at the casino bar, did not make my drinks correctly. At the spa a was overcharged for a massage. At these prices I feel you should be told what you are paying before you get the service.
I would give a higher rating if not for a few people that were really horrible.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
The layout seems good and everything was surprisingly clean. There were a few issues mainly to do with accessibility. I was traveling with someone in a motorized cart. The wait for the elevators sometimes was excessive. And, once you get on the elevators a lot of times they would stop at every floor even if they were full. I think I counted 16 elevators on each side of the ship and there were about 16 floors. It seems like you can make half of them go to the top floors and the other half only to the bottom. Like the express elevators they have in some hotels. When you have a cart and there are a lot of people waiting sometimes you have to wait for a long time because everyone tries to squeeze on and there is no way a cart can squeeze in. Or, maybe they can have a button that says 'full' that way it goes right to the floor you are headed to instead of stopping on all the others for no reason.
When we tried to go to Wonderland we walked all along the 11th floor before discovering that the entrance is only on the 12th floor and there is only a stairway to get to it. We had to take a service elevator to get down to the restaurant. Seems like poor planning, and why would the ship plans show it on both levels if you can only access it from one.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
The cabin was very clean and well kept. The mini fridge was great to have in the room. The issue I had was that the bed was in the middle of the room and very difficult to get around. There was almost no space between the bed and the tv. So, the bathroom was on one side and most of the closet space, the drawers, the desk, the couch and the mini fridge were all on the other side of the bed making them hard to get to. The closet space was adequate and the bathroom was good except the floor flooded sometimes after a shower.
Ship tip
Don't trust the app. The information was sometimes inaccurate and caused me to miss several things.
We were not able to do anything here because my companion has a mobility issue and we had to leave the scooter on the ship. While this is not the ships fault they did not offer any excursions for people with mobility issues.
The seemed to me to be a big water park. This is not something that I like. The food was very good. Better then a lot of the food on the ship actually. There was not a lot of seating and almost everything was in sand. It made it very difficult if you have mobility issues.
I would have liked more time at this port. My original excursion was cancelled because not enough people signed up. I ended up going to the EL Yunge rain forest on a bus trip. Since it was a last minute signup I couldn't bring anyone else so it was pretty lonely but I still had a good time. I didn't realize that I would have to pay cash for almost everything and I ran out of money. Even the stores that I went to in building that had credit card machines were only accepting cash. There was a lot to do and a lot of places close by to see. They did not offer many excursions for people with mobility issues.
I went on the tree liming zip line. It was very good. It would have been better if I had a friend but the guides were very nice. Right off the ship there is not much. Only one restaurant and a bunch of overpriced kiosks. This was disappointing. They also, did not offer many excursions for people with mobility issues.
Not too bad. We got out pretty quickly. We had to wait a while for our uber. I think if the departing times were spaced a little farther apart it would have made it easier. 15 minutes between is not enough time and then everyone wouldn't be jammed together.
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