The amenities and ship were top notch. Food quality and variety needs improvements. should have a system that passengers can communicate with each other with telephone. When we didn't havce cell service,m it was difficult to find each other. a lot of time was spent walking around, looking for one another. The automated screens and tv system for reservations and booking was not too user friendly, glitchy ( would get stuck, not responsive) I wasn't able to check if all people in my party were included in reservations and none of the employees had access to help me. Spent too much of my leisure time on that.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
embarkation was smooth
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
The pizza selection was good, but period between lunch and dinner when passengers were coming back on board, not enough food or variety. It felt like a cattle herd. The pizza chefs couldn't keep up with the demand and had to serve the pizza's under cooked. Even then, an attendant had to control the crowd because the supply could not meet the demand. There wasn't enough quality protein selections at buffet.The ceviche was so fishy in the restaurant, that i never went back and only ate at buffet. Some days the fish in buffet was fishy, but a couple of times it was fresh. The roast was very dry and rubbery. Chicken was not tender. The mozzarella was always good. The pizza was generally good. The broccoli was very water logged. The other salad vegetables were nice and fresh, ( radicchio, arugula, spinach, cucumbers and olives were always nice. The rice salads were tasty. Omelette station didn't have enough ingredients, ex. spinach, tomatoes, asparagus, mushrooms, or cheese that melts. I was disappointed not to see salmon locks, eggs Benedict or soft serve ice cream and fresh baked cookies. Those items have always been available on other cruises and were definitely expected to be included. It was definitely cheap of the company to make passengers pay for ice cream, soft drinks and juice (only included at breakfast). During most times at buffet, the lines were long and seats extremely scarce.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
we went swimming, went to adult lounge, water park area, shopping, theme party, sports court, and fitness. The spa looked wonderful but was too full so i was not able to get the service i wanted on the at sea day. The services offered seemed very good. (emotional showers and facials) We we impressed by the pools and lounge areas around them. The pools were spacious and beautiful.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We watched 3 shows and they were pretty good. the kids particularly enjoyed the magician(hands) show. The male opera singer was very impressive. The dancers were comparable to ones we've seen on other cruises. The deck 5/6 open area entertainers were very good. The DJ's were awesome and energetic.
Children's Programs
4 out of 5
I wish more activities were provided during the day for the 12-14 range because if we didnt go to an excursion or came back early , there weren't organized activities for my daughter to participate in. the times were usually from 5-7 and 8:30-12. there was nothing going on during the day. Mate ( sp) was very caring and did a great job communicating with the kids helping them have fun. On the day that our excursion was cancelled due to the Barcelona incident, the youth club should have stepped it up and created some last minute activities for the kids because we weren't able to leave the ship.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
Our room steward, Giovanni, was EXCELLENT. He was professional, timely, friendly and did a great job. He really stood out. Also, Billly (from South Africa) at the excursion desk was very helpful and exceptional. Most of the other attendants/ servers were not very skilled/trained, capable, or enthusiastic about providing great customer service and being helpful. Hassan Sheikh at the lunch buffet was very pleasant and gave us great customer service. There was also one brunette lady , sorry didn't catch her name, she looked either Italian or Israeli,(petite, hair parted in the middle, usually dark lipstick) (sorry for physical description) She always stood out. She was fast, efficient, never made guests feel like they are a nuisance and always SMILED at passengers.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
The ship was GORGEOUS! The lay out and common areas were well planned and top notch. the pools and surrounding areas,and lounge decks were beautiful. The cabin and bathroom were comfortable, spacious and pleasantly designed. The adult lounge was very classy. The corridor with ceiling screens was stunning. The common areas felt spacious and luxurious. Over all, the most beautiful ship i have ever been on. The covered sports court and pool that had retractable ceiling were extremely impressive. The 2 reasons I'm not issuing a 5 star are: sometimes i would see a splatter or spill on the floor and it didn't get taken care of or if the food tongs would fall on the floor, the employees seemed to hope that nobody would notice so that they wouldn't have to do extra work and replace them. Also, the Marketplace buffet just wasn't large enough to accommodate the amount of passengers on the ship.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Pleasant design, clean, ample luggage space, comfortable bed. Happy with cabin
Ship tip
Book the Blue lagoon excursion and spa ( sea day) in advance because it sells out.
Axe on Provence was beautiful, and restaurants and markets were great. We had to come back too early. Our guide was very boring / monotonous so we left our group and explored on our own and met back at 1:00. We should have taken a bus or taxi on our own because we basically paid excursion fee just for transportation.
We are bringing walkie talkies and erase boards for our door to tell people in our group where we went and coming back. I saw this on cruise we went on in June and we are going in October on another and trying the message board.
*Cruiseline.com is not a booking agent or travel agency,
and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners
(travel agencies and cruise lines) provide prices, which we list for our
users' convenience. Cruiseline.com does not guarantee any specific rates or
prices. While prices are updated daily, please check with the booking site
for the exact amount. Cruiseline.com is not responsible for content on
external web sites.
Contact us
Submitting...
Need help from a personal vacation planner?
Loading...
Find the perfect cruise with weekly tips and cruise deals for as little as $30/night!
Sign up for weekly cruise deals
Join other subscribers and get the best
cruise deals of the week in your inbox every Thursday.
