Overall, it was a pretty good cruise - with some good and some bad. The definite highlight was St. Petersburg and made the entire trip worth while. The Cirque show was also a surprising highlight for us. We also took a ship tour and it was interesting, but for $79 a person, were hoping to see more than just the kitchens, laundry and a few other areas. We would have liked to see the bridge and get a better idea of the living quarters for the crew. The lows of the trip were just the enormous size of the ship and number of passengers. One other quick note - we spent one additional night after the cruise in Copenhagen and stayed in the AC Bella Sky hotel - super modern and one of the coolest hotels I've ever stayed in!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The food in the main dining rooms and buffet was pretty good, but not very exciting - I would have liked a little more variety, especially in the main dining rooms. Specialty dining was very good, especially Tappanyaki.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
The only "activities" we used were the fitness center and the Spa. The Spa was very good.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We weren't that impressed with some of the music on the ship, but we were pleasantly surprised by the Cirque show - it was really excellent, and the food was better than expected too.
Children's Programs
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
Our cabin steward, Joseph, was excellent - very friendly and proficient. But I have to say that we noticed a certain lack of friendliness from other staff on the ship, especially in the main dining rooms. Service was competent, but not particularly warm - like they were just going through the motions and not especially pleased to be doing it. My previous cruises were on smaller ships, the Jade and the Spirit (I think), and staff seemed much more friendly on those.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Everything on the ship seemed clean and well maintained. Our complaint is that it was so big and so many people everywhere, and no quiet little spaces to get away from the noise and chaos.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Our cabin was great - not large, but well designed and a place for all our stuff. Good layout for the 2 of us. Bed was comfortable too.
Ship tip
Be prepared for a huge number of people in a relatively small space. Also, if you want to eat in one of the specialty dining places, reserve ahead because they fill up fast, espeically on sea days.
Loved Copenhagen. We arrived a couple of days early (stayed in a nice little hotel right downtown called the Savoy) and really enjoyed the town. Started with the Hop On Hop Off to get a tour of the town, then wandered around on our own.
Berlin had some very interesting points - the remnants of the Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate, Holocaust memorial, etc. - but the day was simply too long and exhausting. We started the day at 7am with a 2.5 hour train ride from the port to Berlin, then sat on a bus for most of the next 8 hours, then after another 2.5 hour train ride back, arrived back at the ship after 8pm. Too much to try to cover in one day.
Unfortunately this port was canceled due to bad weather. This caused us to have 2 sea days in a row since the next day was already planned to be a sea day. This lead to a lot of boredom and restlessness among passengers.
cajuncoopers: on a ship the size of the BA, reservations are always highly recommended to ensure you are not waiting at dinner and you have a seat for the entertainment.
Thanks for the review, Beege13. Can you please tell us if having dining room reservations prevents waiting? We’re hoping that having reserved dining/entertainment before our cruise will shield us from the masses. True? 🛳❣️🛳❣️🛳
Great review...... bridge tours were stopped shortly after 9/11 for security reasons and expecting a tour of someone's personal living quarters is a little unreasonable.
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