Awesome AFFORDABLE Vacation

We were very nervous about this part; however, it was an absolute breeze. Someone collected our luggage for us right at the very beginning. We also chose to park in the parking garage right next to the dock, which was at that point in time $17 a day including embarkation and disembarkation day (we felt that it was worth the convenience as first time cruisers out of Port Canaveral). We arrived around 12:10 (our embarkation time was 12:30) and we were ON the boat by 12:50. We were pleasantly pleased by how quickly we were able to go through the lines and get on.

To be clear, we did not try any of the specialty restaurants and did not spend any additional money on food. We did have the Easy Plus drink package (includes drinks priced $9 and below). We ate breakfast and lunch every day in the buffet and every time we were able to find something that was delicious. Yes, sometimes there were items we did not like, but as it is a buffet, we got up and tried something different. I was nervous about the food prior to going on the trip because of all the bad reviews I read, but either my husband and I have absolutely no taste or we just are smart enough to lower our expectations considering this is a very affordable vacation and it's a buffet on a boat... Anyway, the pizza at the buffet (NOT the upcharge pizza) was delightful. We ate it almost every day simply because it was so good. The toppings changed every day and honestly this pizza was better than some pizza I've had at pizza shops. They also had dessert pizza (quite possibly one of my favorite things on the buffet - for example, peach and white chocolate with a crumb topping), breakfast pizza, marinara pizza, meat pizza, artichoke pizza, etc. Every day there were different options. There were also different bread options daily, including focaccia (sometimes with olives, sometimes without). There was daily soup, salad (this was not as "pathetic" as some people branded it in reviews... you could pick a premade garden salad that was a little basic, or make your own salad), hamburgers, hotdogs, French fries, plus everything they made different on the daily. We always found something that we really enjoyed. The food on the private island Ocean Cay was probably our favorite (at the free buffet on the island)! I will also say that the buffet food does change over (from breakfast to lunch, lunch to "snack time," and then to dinner, and then a final snack time as the pizza is available until 1 am I believe). So some people may have gone for a full lunch during the snack time and that probably would seem disappointing. The daily information packet they leave in your room each night has all of the dining times available, so I would recommend looking at that and planning for your day a little bit if you are wanting like a FULL meal. We also constantly saw employees checking on the buffet food to make sure it was still okay and we saw them taking food away if it got cold or just sat too long. We also had great service in the buffet. Servers checked on us to make sure we were enjoying our cruise, meal, etc. Servers would check to see if you had drinks and if not would offer them to us and go get them for us so we did not have to get up. My only complaint here is that you do get hounded by the employees trying to sell the upgraded food packages. When we said no thanks, they do move on, but they must have had like 20 people doing that job so each different individual comes over and tries to offer it to you, so it does get annoying pretty quickly. We ate most dinners in the Black Crab Restaurant, but we had to pick between a 6pm and 8:30pm dinner time. 6 is too early for us and oftentimes the 8:30 time coincided with events we wanted to attend on the boat (such as the shows). So we just did our best and if we missed the restaurant dinner we just went to the buffet and got ourselves some pizza or whatever was available. Overall, we were pleased with our meals from the restaurant. My husband and I felt a little awkward in the restaurant as it is kind of like fine dining (server pulling the chairs for you, putting napkins in your lap) and I guess we just aren't that classy normally haha. So if you like that sort of thing, you will love the restaurant. They also have the best French onion soup! The restaurant has different themes most of the nights - Gala night (formal night) and Italian night were some of the ones we went to. You can scan a QR code for the menu (they provide a WiFi hotspot for free so if you don't have a WiFi package you can still access the menu). We had a WiFi package so we scanned the menu the first night and then every day we were able to access that website and check the menu before we committed to going to the restaurant (so we were able to see if we liked what was on the menu or not). Our server Tri and assistant server Dexter were absolutely amazing - so friendly and great service. They both were so kind to us and engaged in great conversation with me and my husband. My only complaint about the restaurant is that our table was RIGHT next to the server station, so we felt like the servers were on top of us/staring at us the entire time we ate. And it wasn't that crowded (we got lucky and were on a less crowded cruise) so we easily could have been placed at a table even just a few feet away from their server station (we could see that more than half the tables never had anyone at them the entire week). You sit at the same table the entire week. We also had no one at our table (which was a plus for us since we are introverts, but I know for some people on a cruise they like to sit next to other cruisers). But, we are shy and maybe we could have asked to move or something, we just didn't try! As previously mentioned, we had the Easy Plus drink package. We are not big drinkers, but despite this, we were really glad we got the drink package. We were able to get water bottles (still, sparkling), coffees (lattes, cappuccinos, espresso), and sodas (depending on where you are on the boat you can get fountain or canned) as well. This was very convenient for us. They also have a list of nonalcoholic beverages, including frozen virgin daiquiris, etc. So you could still enjoy a fabulous frozen drink that didn't have any alcohol. We also enjoyed several alcoholic beverages, all of which were great. Alfredo at the Garden Bar was one of our favorite bartenders! Thank you for the great service, conversation, and the best Moscow Mule I've ever had! We also enjoyed service from Edison at the Tritone Bar, Jhon Ray Guarino and Michaell Baldemor at the Garden Bar, and Miguel at the Poseidon Bar. I also really enjoyed their frozen drinks. Honestly, there weren't any drinks I didn't enjoy!

My husband and I probably spent the most time at the pools. Our favorite was the Garden Bar adults only pool. It was really close to our stateroom, so it was very convenient for us and was very quiet, especially the first few days of our cruise. We think maybe a lot of cruisers didn't realize it was there as it was all the way in the back of the boat. My only disappointment with this pool was that it was supposed to be an infinity pool, but I would not describe it as that once I saw it... I was also glad to see you could NOT bring drinks into the pool. You could have a drink in the pool area, but the drink had to stay on the perimeter of the pool. The pool had a bench that went around the pool so you could sit with your feet in a few inches of water (I know for a lot of people this is a bummer, but I don't want drunk people spilling their drinks in the pool I'm swimming in. Also keeps people OUT of the pool so more room for me to swim and enjoy the pool lol). The main pool out on the deck was also very nice and honestly not that crowded for what I was expecting. Especially after 5pm, there was basically no one in any of the pools or hot tubs and they were open every day until 9pm. That was also a huge plus for me, as the pools are my favorite part of a cruise/vacation. The pools were also not too warm, but cool enough to feel refreshing from the hot sun. They do start packing up the loungers once it gets quieter by the pool, around 5pm if not a lot of people are left swimming. I wish they left a few loungers out until 9pm, because sometimes I wanted to swim or honestly even lay out at 7pm before the sun went down but I didn't have a lounger to sit in! There was another pool with the retractable roof, but I only saw them open it up one day out of seven. When it was closed it would get very warm inside the room because of the water and it was kind of unbearable so we didn't swim in there that much during our cruise. It also seemed to be the area kids and families went, so I guess in a way it's nice that the pool is there for families to go use and free up the other pools. There is also a final pool in the Yacht Club area, but as we are not members we did not see it. We did not use the fitness center or spa, but we saw the fitness center and it looked very nice! There was no one in there when we walked by, probably around noon. Onboard activities also included games like ring toss, bingo (cost $$ so we did not play), trivia, name that tune, etc. We enjoyed trivia, but did not really engage in the other activities. We would see them occurring as we walked by and they seemed a little lame, but if you like that sort of thing I'm sure it's fun, especially if you are a family/kid!

There were two stage shows each night and we saw maybe half of them. We usually sat right by the doors so we could sneak out if we didn't like the show. The "international entertainers" were probably the most enjoyable show out of the ones we watched. The magicians were a little lame, but I think it was a show more geared towards children and families! I also imagine it was a more enjoyable show if you were sitting in the front row (we were sitting upstairs in the back). We did not go see the comedian. Our favorite show was the last show with the Cruise Staff Variety Show. We absolutely loved everyone from the Cruise Staff that did all the entertaining all week. We were really impressed with their ability to entertain, from singing, dancing, and generally just being goofy/silly. They just looked SO happy to be there and really improved our mood just from their smiles and overall excitement. They really did their best to pump up the crowd and get us excited for our evening or whatever event was taking place. 10/10 for that staff! The DJ that was present at all of the events was very friendly, as well. Overall, I would say don't expect Broadway, but go with an open mind and just enjoy what is in front of you and you will have a good time. The shows and performers aren't perfect, but if you are looking for a Broadway level show and the shows are the main reason you cruise, maybe consider a different cruise.

We did not have any children with us on the cruise. We did see the children walking around in a group with adults and they looked happy. I will say there were a lot of pre-teens walking around without ANY supervision and they were very rude and disrespectful to one another (almost like bullying) and cursing A LOT (F bombs).

The service we received in every area was truly amazing. And I was expecting good service due to all the reviews I read and let me say, this definitely lived up to the hype. As previously mentioned, the service in the buffet was top notch. As you walk in, someone is waiting to provide you with hand sanitizer and every time they were so friendly. Then as you walk through the buffet, employees are working behind the buffet bar and are greeting you and offering different foods. Then there are servers who are available to show you what parts of the buffet are open and answer any questions you may have. You can get the food you want and when you sit down someone comes by pretty quickly to offer you any drinks you want. The waiters in the restaurant were also fantastic. As previously mentioned, our head server Tri was fantastic, as was our assistant server Dexter. We truly enjoyed going to the restaurant just to see them. And occasionally we would see Dexter in the buffet and he would go out of his way to check in on us! We enjoyed our conversations with Tri and Dexter and they provided the best service I've probably ever had in a restaurant in my life (and I've worked as a server myself for many years). Our room steward Ronald also provided fantastic service and made sure we had everything we needed in our room. We didn't even need to ask for anything, because he was so on top of things. He was also so kind and friendly and greeted us by name when we saw him in the hallway. Our room was always very clean - he did a great job and was very respectful. As previously mentioned, we also really enjoyed our service at several of the bars on the cruise. Specifically, the Garden Bar was one of our favorite bars to go to. We received fantastic 10/10 service from Alfredo, Jhon Ray Guarino, and Michaell Baldemor. They always checked in on us. There was also a server at the Garden Bar (I'm sorry I forgot his name) but he would check if we needed anything while in the pool or sitting in a lounger (so we weren't technically AT the bar). We really enjoyed the service in this area. Plus, everyone was very friendly, making jokes, and appeared to work very well with one another. They made our experience very enjoyable. We also enjoyed conversing with the pool attendant, Jarry. He did a great job of making us feel welcomed and safe while at the pool in the Garden Bar area. We noted he did a great job at being friendly, polite, and respectful, even when turning families away, as it is an adult only area. Every day we went out to the Garden Bar/pool area, we were excited to see these employees that worked so hard and were so friendly. We also received wonderful service from Edison at the Tritone Bar, he was so friendly and engaged in very long conversation with us. We received fantastic service from all of the bartenders at the Poseidon bar, including Miguel. I don't know all the names of the bartenders there, but their energy was infectious! We shared so many laughs and they really made our trip memorable. We also appreciated being provided fresh towels when getting off and back on the ship. We just wish we could have gotten fresh towels when using the ship's pools! The towels struggled to dry in our room and sometimes we had a wet towel when going to the pool. Thank goodness the sun was always out during our trip to dry our towels for us!

The ship was a little confusing to navigate, but there were maps everywhere. As many reviews mentioned, you can't access all sides of the ship from every elevator. Oftentimes we had to go to a certain deck and walk across before getting on another elevator. However, it was easy to navigate by looking at the maps and just thinking it through for a minute before going somewhere. We really had no issues, although my husband was often turned around lol. But I had no issues navigating after looking at the map. The atrium area (the main area with the crystal staircase) was beautifully designed. I really enjoyed the elevators with the glass walls to look out into the atrium area and the crystal staircase of course was beautiful. Considering this is an older ship, we were very impressed with how it looked overall. All common areas were spotless and well-maintained. I can't think of a single time we noticed something that appeared dirty. All the common area bathrooms were also spotless (lots of common bathrooms available on each floor, which we thought was very nice! Don't need to run back to your room every time you need to use the restroom). There were always employees polishing the mirrors, cleaning, vacuuming, etc. Even in the smoking areas outside, they were constantly cleaning the ash trays so it rarely smelled like smoke unless someone was literally smoking right next to us. I was impressed that the outdoor chairs and loungers were also all very clean (this always seems to be an issue for me when going to hotels/community pools/etc.) but definitely everything was very well cleaned here. I will say the Garden Bar area pool was very dirty our first day at sea, because so many people were in there all day (I'm thinking a lot of sunblock in there maybe). But the next day it was spotless clean again! So a huge thank you to all of the staff that go unnamed but work very hard to keep the cruise so clean for us to enjoy. :)

The cabin was surprisingly larger than I was expecting (but keep in mind it's still tiny). We had an interior cabin in the "Bella experience." I think that may have been a fancy term for back of the boat? Lol. It was on Deck 10. We liked the location because we could take an elevator to Deck 7 to hit the Black and White lounge or walk across the boat all the way to the Pantheon theater. We could also go straight upstairs into the middle of the buffet and/or walk from the buffet to the Garden Bar. Cleanliness was a 10/10. No gross smells. Bathroom was a little claustrophobic, but from reading reviews it wasn't anything I wasn't expecting. Don't forget there's a clothesline to hang wet bathing suits and the shower doors go inward so you have more room while using the toilet. The room also had nice storage for clothes, a small table with a chair and a stool. We also had a mini fridge so we could keep water bottles in there. There was also a hair dryer, shampoo and body wash was provided. The safe was also easy to use. There is a TV but we only got like one channel, but we enjoyed having the boat information playing while we were getting ready (see where we were on the map, how deep the water was, wind gusts, etc.). Huge downside was the bed. We knew it was two twins pushed together, but thought they would be able to connect better, as every night the bed started coming apart if you laid in the "crack." Basically, my husband and I just stayed on our own twin beds. Also, it definitely did NOT feel like a king size bed despite being two twin beds... felt much smaller than our regular king bed at home. Bed was firm (up to you whether that is good or bad - for me it was good). Also, being towards the back of the boat, whenever we were docking, our room would shake so bad it would wake us up. So if we were docking at 6 am, we were awake. Also, if you are a light sleeper I would suggest ear plugs. There were lots of little weird noises so thankfully I had my ear plugs and didn't have to listen to them all night. My husband is a deep sleeper and didn't even notice any noises. We could hear our neighbor coughing and people walking in the hallway, but couldn't hear any specific conversations. So be prepared for that as well.

We chose to do the express disembarkation where we carried our own luggage. Honestly, totally worth it. The distance to get off the ship is not that far and it just seems risky to let them throw your luggage around again when you can just carry it a little distance. The process was SUPER easy, so thankful for that. We had to stand in line for a little while to get off the ship, but once we scanned our cruise card we were able to walk off to our car within 15 minutes? So easy and quick.