I have cruised better

They had given up group numbers to be called so we could board. The understanding was in the storm the night before the one entrance had been broken. So it was a very slow process. The group we were with had a much lower number than us. They were not even close to being called. We also had 2 people that had entered with us, and walked right on board. After finding that out we eventually just made our way to the entrance. They never even checked the number and allowed us on board

While the food was good, the service was lacking. They seemed over worked, and understaffed. There wasn't a dinner that took less than 2.5-3 hours. Then the buffet, this may have nothing to do with the ship but the people were ridiculously rude!! There was no flow of traffic indicated to move through the buffet lines, so people would jump in cut you off push you out of the way. It was awful. On previous ships I have been on there was clear direction to the lines, it wasn't a free for all, and the servers in your area were always quick to bring coffee or drinks, but never did here. Only one guy did and he was very kind, but over all dining seemed awful. We had one server in the Manhattan room Deloni- she was amazing and kind, and didn't make you feel like you were a bother, like the other servers did!! However, it was still an almost 3 hour experience! Which I know was NOT her fault.

So the pools were crowded, which is normal. But it was the demeanor of the staff there as well. Again, it was better for you to get up and get your own drinks poolside as the servers there were impossible to get their attention. They also did not make the effort to ask if you wanted a drink. All my past experiences, they were always coming around to ask. These ones you almost had to strong arm to get them to take an order. In fact, we never did, but our friends did and had to actually ask if they were taking orders! In the Spa my massage therapist walked in on me naked (after telling me to get dressed and only being gone less than a minute) never knocked, just opened the door, people were walking in the hallway and all she did was scoot inside while apologizing. Then forced me to go have a consult with the acupuncture doc, which is fine, she knew I needed extra work, but the moment he realized I wasn't going to spend money. He walked me to the nearest exit which dumped me out on the deck below where I came in straight into the cabins. I had inquired about one of the other procedures, and had a consult with a different doc. After giving me the prices, he got a bit pushy and told me that it would only take 5 mins if I had time. When I said I wanted to speak with my boyfriend about the price first, he suggested I open a separate account and my boyfriend would not need to know, made me feel VERY uncomfortable. The entire time on this ship I felt they were just trying to up-sell! We did use the ping pong tables alot and the mini golf which was cool. We never got to any of the other activities mostly due to weather, and when we did plan it dinner took much longer than expected.

SO we made it to TWO shows. All the shows were completely booked solid by the time we got on board. Which is something I had never experienced. There was also usually ONE showing a day, which is not nearly enough considering the amounts of people. The only way to get into a show was to wait outside, and hope they had a no show. I have a child who I wasn't willing to tell him we were doing something, and then not have it happen. That's not fair for anyone involved. The one show we made it to "Wine Lovers the Musicial" was VERY good. It did cost money, but you got 7 glasses of wine, and a 3 course meal-which was to die for. I am confident that because you had to pay for this one it is the only reason we were able to get in, totally worth it, BUT I am still disappointed that I only got to see that and a magic show. The magic show again - one showing and the place was PACKED we weren't able to sit all together.

My kid hated the Splash academy, as did the other 2 small kids we were with. They went a few times, but it was a fight to get them there. The one boy kept telling us he was afraid someone would hit him again. We couldn't get to the bottom of what had happened. My 5 year old was underwhelmed, kept saying he felt closed in. I mean it is sort of in a "basement" type setting. The staff there was VERY nice though. The kids just seemed disenchanted with it, and stopped going day 2. Since the shows were booked solid the only show they saw for their entertainment was the magic show, which was good. The singing was a little strange, but still a good show! My kid also cleaned house at the arcade, so that was good.

Our steward was so very kind. Always greeted us in the hallway, and was so very good about any of our requests! There were 3 others that I truly enjoyed their presence and they were always happy and helpful. Gerald was my favorite server, he could always be seen assisting the elderly down the hall, and was always having a party. He fit the "cruise" vibe. The wait staff in the dining rooms left a lot to be desired, except for Deloni- in the Manhattan Room, she was incredible, she made us feel welcome. Though I will say the Manhattan room was immensely better that Taste or Savor.

I will say the ship was clean! It was the cruisers that were disgusting. Leaving glasses, dishes, and other things just laying around. There were plates left in bathrooms, and glasses in elevators. It was terrible, and I am certain a strain on the staff! There is absolutely no fault in that for the staff themselves, they can only do so much. One thing I wasn't a fan of was that they would switch the "adult" area to a kid area for a few hours to do some activities and watch movies on the aft. Now I was NOT an adult only type person- I had my kid everywhere with me since he did NOT want to go to the kid academy, BUT as someone that respects that not everyone wants kids in their face, it was strange to have it go to a kid friendly environment then back. I am certain it was equally annoying for those who liked their kid-free space. Also, it took me days to figure out that kids were allowed on the aft for those movies because all day it is clearly an adult only zone. So I was sad not to be able to take him, then realized that it was accepted after certain hours. So that was confusing. Also, guest services, shore excursion, cruise next, the on board credit dept, and the internet cafe is all located in the atrium, which is convenient, however, they hold A LOT of LOUD events in that atrium as well. This is NOT at all suitable when you are trying to speak with someone in any of those departments. It makes it hard to hear them, and them to hear you and what you need. I was not a fan of that.

It was tiny, but nice, and always clean. I mean ideally you shouldn't be taking up residence there anyway so it worked!

I mean, this was terrible! I have never been on a cruise that had done this before, and honestly once again, I felt terrible for the first timers! They want you to pick up your luggage zone tags the day before near guest services. If you did not read the tiny box on your daily news letter (which by the way, was CRAMMED with so much it was almost intimidating to read) you would have never known that is what you were supposed to do. In past cruises they leave the tags in your room the day before. You get a zone time and waiting place and you get out of your room so they can start the turn over. NOPE. this one was pick the color you would like to leave by, or if you wanna get off at the crack of dawn and carry your stuff off pick these colors. Then there was no place to wait until the called your zone color, there was just one long line through the deck of the ship to disembark. Which - you dont actually have to wait to get called to get off, you can just go. I think its to keep the ranks in file. Anyway, there was no information on what deck even on port days, so you had to talk to other travelers who may have known. Past ships put signs up so you know exactly were to go. My boyfriend got up super early and went down to the atrium to get the tags before the chaos commened in the atrium, and THAT it did once people learned what they had to do- most of them never saw the tiny box, it was the chatting in the elevators with other cruisers that tipped them off