Met some great people, had a nice trip and saw some great new places, even with some cold weather on a couple of days.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Big line that wrapped around the building, however it moved very fast, and once we checked in, we pretty much just walked onto the ship from there.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Teppanaki was amazing and a fun time. Just like on the Epic the year before, we were not that impressed with the Brazilian Steakhouse even though, and when NOT cruising, that is our favorite type of restaurant to go to! Buffet was ok, love the view from the back of the ship while eating. We also did the main dining room for a few meals and it was fine, but nothing spectacular.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
The pools were very small and full of kids. So were the hot tubs in the main pool area. Spice was better though the adults-only was not always enforced.
Entertainment
The dueling pianos was fun, but we didn''t make it to the bigger shows on this trip, as we had made some friends and chose to hang out with them instead.
Children's Programs
We did not bring our (adult) kids on this trip.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
I have to say, the bartenders on the ship were AWESOME and did an amazing job remembering our favorite drinks and keeping our glasses full at the Spice H2O bar! Every crew member we encountered had a smile and was kind and gracious to us.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Though slightly larger than the Epic, it felt smaller and more crowded. We did like that it had more outdoor options on lower decks, but we missed having a pool in the adult area like the Epic has. The ship appeared clean and maintained well.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
As always, not enough outlets but we brought our own extension outlet that had USB ports on it. Size was ok, not as many drawers/cabinets as the Epic had. Bathroom was awesome though, decent size shower with glass doors, and lots of shelves.
Very small island but it did have some cute shops to buy souvenirs in, we bought some Jade figurines and some delicious fresh Mayan chocolate. Pool was very crowded, beach had lots of available chairs though. We didn't do any excursions here.
We did an excursion to visit some Mayan Ruins. The bus was air conditioned and the tour guide was informative and funny, but the included 'lunch' was a simple sandwich, fruit, and bottle of water. Also the tour guide was selling trinkets on the bus and we felt pressure to buy things we probably would not have otherwise. The ruins themselves were awesome. We got to hear the history and spend time climbing the buildings and walkways.
We didn't do any excursions here, however once we got off the ship there were a LOT of little trinket shops vying for our money. While some of it was cute, having to walk through the 'mall' gauntlet was terrible, because you are accosted no matter where you turn with people trying to get you into their shop to buy things. And you had to walk through it to get OUT of the port area, AND to get back on the ship!
Nothing of note here, though it was cool that we did not have to go through the normal ''customs'' to get back into Miami, they checked your passport, and a camera did a face scan (reminded me of a ring light selfie), and if it was green, you were done and could literally just walk right off the ship to a car. If it was red, you have to do secondary customs.
Yes, I was reading reviews and prepping for our next cruise at the end of Aug 2021 and realized I never posted my review from our LAST cruise before lockdown! LOL :)
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