Overall we had a fantastic time! Just a few things that could be improved.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
The weather didn't cooperate and that made it a little chaotic, but it was an easy process. Should note in the eDocs that you can show them on your phone vs. printing them out. Improvement opportunity would be to allow them to be added to your phone's wallet like a flight boarding pass.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Specialty restaurants, particularly Le Bistro and La Cucina were AMAZING! Buffets were pretty good and had a wide variety. I think charging over $5 for a liter of water in your room, and not including water in the Unlimited Beverage Package is ridiculous. It felt very difficult to get water during much of the cruise and I felt dehydrated. I will definitely bring my own water bottle next time! That was a big mistake on our part.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Loved Spice H2O as an adult only area during the day. Pool areas were too crowded sometimes and Spice gave us a nice option. Loved playing Bingo, and the casino! The game-show games were very entertaining.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
LOVED the band Switch at Syd Norman's Pour House...they should play more than twice a week! Randon is a wonderful singer and we enjoyed what we heard from him.
Children's Programs
Didn't have kids with us.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Overall good. Room Steward (Dionne) was wonderful! Getting drinks at many bars was slow...not enough bartenders. Also was difficult to get a waiter when sitting at the casino tables...probably due to not enough bartenders. Wait staff at restaurants and bartenders were friendly and entertaining...particularly Allan in the buffet bar and Lawrence at Spice H2O!
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Liked the layout and design...things being spread on different floors made for less crowding most of the time. Everything was clean and kept up.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Great size, bed was pretty comfortable, and bathroom was good sized. Loved having the balcony!
Ship tip
Tour the entire ship as soon as you board...we didn't find the 8th deck until day 3 and there were great restaurants and bars there! Also bring your own refillable water bottle!
Liked being able to safely walk around old San Juan. Did not do an excursion. Would have liked to have been there during the day to have been able to do a beach type excursion.
Excursion to Beef Island was disappointing. Would not recommend that. Beach area was dirty, there was trash at the bottom of the ocean (beer cans, water bottles, etc.) and they charged you for everything...water, food, beach chairs, umbrellas. Tortola itself is a very poor area that was severely impacted by Hurricane Irma. Heard from others that other beach type excursions were much better than ours though. Perhaps we just picked the wrong one.
Snorkeling excursion was fantastic! Beautiful coral reef with tons of fish! The only thing we didn't like was that they dropped us off on the opposite side of the port than they picked us up from. This meant we had to walk through the 'shopping' area to get back to the ship. We were approached by a man wanting to sell us drugs and others asking for money. It did not feel safe. We didn't realize there was a shopping area set up within the gates of the port until we got back there. We would have preferred to shop there if we had known about that area in advance.
Took WAY too long to disembark. We heard they had trouble with the facial recognition system they were using for the first time, but have also heard this process is too long and difficult even without that.
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