The usual Caribbean cruise. Boat was crowded since it was spring break for many. Boat might need a refresh.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Things moved pretty quickly.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
We ate at the Manhattan Club for dinner one night. The food offerings were just OK. Teppanyaki dinner was fun, but the food was extremely salty. The steakhouse food was the best of the trip. Garden Cafe is pretty good for a buffet....probably a little better than Windjammers on Royal Caribbean. We also ate at the French place one night. The atmosphere was nice, but the food was really lacking.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Trivia was a little boring. Didn't do the pools. The very small running track was never to crowded.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Comedy shows were good. The Burn the Floor show was outstanding.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Stewards are clearly overworked. Too many cabins for one person. We never got turndown service or any towel animals, and our stateroom was never cleaned before 3 pm. The waitstaff was all very friendly, but again very overworked. The washy washy guy in the Garden Cafe was hilarious.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Ship had an interesting layout. Some cabin floors only had a through hallway on one side of the ship. The casino seemed oversized, but happily not full of smoke. We never used the elevators.
Cabin / Stateroom
2 out of 5
Tiny cabin! The width was so narrow, you could not pass by each other. The privacy of the split bath was nonexistent, with glass doors that would slide open with the ship's motion. Our room had an adjoining cabin door with 14081. We could clearly hear entire conversations starting at 6 am. To be fair, there was a family of 4 there, and they tended to scream and fight with each other all the time, but the sounds were not even slightly muffled. We had to complain on 2 separate days, and finally by day 5 they quieted down. Our balcony door was broken, so opening it was a. challenge. Only one US outlet in the cabin. We brought our international adapter, so we had two outlets. Unlike the NCL Encore we sailed on in October 2023, there were no USB plugs in the bedside reading lamps.
Ship tip
No need for formal wear. Dinner dress was pretty casual every night. Sometimes a little too casual.
Beautiful city. First we walked to El Morro along the coast. Saw crabs, iguanas and cats along the way. We walked across the city to a public beach. It was busy, but there were lifeguards, facilities and a few food trucks. There was also a place to rent chairs and umbrellas. Prices were reasonable.
Did the Amazing Race St. Thomas shore excursion, purchased outside of NCL. Our group of 7 had an outstanding time! A little slow to start since we had to wait for groups from other ships, but very well run. Afterwards, we roamed the downtown area with the booths to shop outside. Saw a few outstanding artists selling there.
The waterpark located inside the port was free and pretty nice. Crowded, of course, but well run. We didn't end up leaving the Amber Cove area. The nearby beaches were all private, and we didn't book a tour.
The line to exit was extremely long. We did our own bags as we had an early flight. My sister was stopped at the exit and told she needed to go to guest services to settle her account. This was in error since she had already put her credit card on the account. So, she had to go through the line twice for absolutely no reason. Not cool.
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