This cruise is more about being on the ship than your ports of call. Most guests seemed okay with that, but think we were the only non drinkers on the ship! We did literally book two days before sailing and didn't research it enough, so that's on us.
Embarkation
1 out of 5
Horrific! Over two hours in line, so why the appointment time?
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The main dining room was a great experience, with dinner and dancing if you wanted. Savory and Taste were great, noodle bar was fun. The Modero was also good food, except they forgot our sides, waiter disappeared and didn't offer to compensate us for that. This was an additional fee restaurant with an automatic 20 percent tip, so expected better service. Didn't complain, the staff are seriously over worked! The buffet was , well a buffet where a lot of guests acted like they were starving and the food was running out, the usual. They did shut down rather early 9:30 I think it was.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Not sure how to rate this, loved the games, BUT not enough seating for everyone. The atrium is a popular venue, has big deep, uncomfortable chairs , they could have smaller, more comfy chairs and fit in more guests. The water slides were fun, miniature golf etc.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Fantastic shows, theatre is to small, so you have to make reservations for the main shows!
Had comedy acts in the Headliner bar, OMG! Hard wooden chairs and if you weren't in the front row, or standing in the back you couldn't even see what was going on. They did have 't.v. on the walls, but kind of defeats the purpose of going to a live show! Syd Normans, another bar, had Karoke and better views, but if you sat in the booths, brace yourself or you will slide right off! Wasn't just us, I asked other guests to see if I was just to fussy, and they all agreed .
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Not really excellent, but man they tried hard. The staff just doesn't get enough rest , you can tell just by looking at them that they are exhausted. And the ship has around 4,000 guests.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Overall very clean and well kept
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Cabin is adequate size, not enough closet space and no drawers. Also found someone else's dirty socks and some dirty champagne glasses in the closet.......thought the bathroom was great with a vanity and plenty of room.
Ship tip
Be prepared for crowds. And have small bills in port!
Be careful if you use an ATM in port, I wasn't paying close attention and ended up paying 25.00 fee to get out 200.00!!!!!!!!! The people were all great, I even got a hug for being one ladies first customer. Another guy gave us a little seashell since we had to pay to enter the protected area ( went out on a dive boat, not booked through the ship).
We like to go off and explore on our own, can't do that here, this manmade island is just an extension of the cruise ship. If you like to lay on the beach and nurse your hangover this is the place! The zip lines looked like fun, but been there done that...... they have paddle boards, kayaks etc. but can't go out of a little lagoon........
We took a shuttle into town to walk the Malacon.4.00 per person, but you have to take a taxi back. The information booth at the cruise port said to share a taxi back should be 8.00 for the taxi, ha! Was 12.00 coming back. Taxi driver insisted he had no change, went back to the booth to ask for change, she refused to break a twenty, insisting she had no money either, since she was selling the shuttle tickets right before my eyes, I was a wee bit skeptical! Another tourist came to my rescue so I didn't have to tip him 8 bucks. If you do go into town be prepared to be bothered by everyone wanting you to visit their booths, they are nice about it, but dang! You can get an hour massage for 20.00, and there's a LOT of people doing that. There was 3 ships in port at once so the shopping mall at the pier was a total madhouse! It looks new and very clean. The ship left port at 2:00 so not a lot of time there.
We lined up way early to get off with our luggage, as did lots of other people, but went smoothly for us. Customs was a joke, didn't even check luggage!
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