Overall a great experience and many memories were made. Freestyle had its upsides, with great flexibility in dining choices, changes in dining atmosphere ( many times what I would consider elegant dining in a casual environment) with great food. Downside of this was difficulty in enjoying to evening entertainment in venues that were way too small to handle the volume. You will be able find some quiet place to sit and relax. Overall, the experience with drinks was that they are way over poured and too strong to be enjoyed, sometimes they were even undrinkable, so we put it aside and ordered something else. Perfect example was a pina colada. They poured the rum on top, so you could see all the rum you were getting, we poured have to rum off so we could then enjoy the drink. Very wasteful.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Process was simple. Luggage taken at sidewalk, check-in was simple and fairly quick. You select a time window (board early) and have lunch on board before the ship departs.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
All venues had delicious food offerings. Our package included two dinners in the specialty restaurants. We chose La Cucina and Cagney’s Steak House (DO NOT miss out on dining there). Don’t know why anyone would eat in the buffet for dinner with the choices of complementary dining options ( many people do the buffet, so the nice restaurants are not crowded). Just wear a collared shirt or golf shirt and you’re in. The ladies can dress very casual. This was freestyle dining so although we had reservations for every night ( booked online before the cruise) it was very flexible to go a different time, or a different restaurant. Can’t say enough about the entree options, quality of food and excellent service.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
On board activities were generally for the younger at heart. Nice water slides, ropes course, etc. pool deck area was small, crowded, hard to get chairs, the usual. Impossible on days at sea. There is plenty of room on the higher sun decks ( 17 & 18) but the wind made it nearly impossible to sit up there unless you were looking to get wind burn.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
This was freestyle dining, which means you also have freestyle entertainment. Other than the 1 show you must make a reservation for (choir of man - excellent) it is freestyle getting into the entertainment venues. We started going 45 minutes before the scheduled show times to be able to get in, and often only to be able to stand along a wall to see it. So that means standing in line 45 minutes then another hour for the show. Not something everyone can do. This required us juggling our dinner times around to allow for the waiting times. Over the quality of the entertainment was fairly good for a cruise. Dueling Pianos could have been better. I expected more Billy Joel and Elton John, but is was more of a free for all.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Could not have received better service. All aspects from cabin steward to waiters and customer service desk were very professional. Cabin condition / bathroom was great.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Entire ship was clean and well maintained. I had read reviews that the elevators were over crowded, etc. I did not find that to be the case most of the time. Our cabin was more towards the bow, restaurants and entertainment venues were more aft. I did this intentionally so we would be using the forward set of elevators to be less crowded, and I think they were. You have to expect some delays, say when everyone is returning from port, or disembarkation. Occasional use of the stairs didn’t hurt to work off some of the food.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Excellent cabin. Very comfortable with a couch and very comfortable bed. Falling asleep after a days activity was not a problem. Did feel a little bit of the ships motion so I suggest some Dramamine or the patch if you have seasickness issues.
Ship tip
You have to be flexible with this freestyle format. Enjoy dinner in the complementary dining venues, you’ll get plenty of the buffet for breakfast and lunch. Some of the restaurants do serve lunch, so use them, part of your package. Do not purchase the Priority Access package $200. There is no priority anywhere to be found. It is supposed to give you priority when tendering at the ports. Turns out the three ports we visited had docks, no tendering. At the Bahamas, we had to tender. There was no priority. It took us 1 hour waiting on line to get back to the ship.
Our planned excursion was cancelled, and rather than trying to find another , we enjoyed a much less crowded ship. I heard from other passengers that this island was the most beautiful one of all three we visited sorry I missed it, maybe next time.
St Thomas is all about the shopping for jewelers, etc. The excursions are typically a long ride up and down mountain roads and hairpin turns. Nice views of the islands and bays. The beach is very nice, but not enough time to enjoy it. I didn’t take the cruise to go to the beach, I can do that at home.
Tortola is nice. If you don’t want to book an excursion, you can walk to the shopping district from the ship. Otherwise, taking a tour will be an on and off a crowded tour truck going up and down mountain roads. Tortola is more mountainous then the other ports of call, so if you enjoy the views, this may be one to do.
Enjoyed the private island and availability of bars and food. Disappointing that this island is PRIVATE for the cruise, we had to pay $29 to rent the beach chairs. Really, it should just be included. What a petty charge, more annoying than anything else.
Process was rather simple, and be patient and take your time. You get different colored luggage takes, which also gives you the time window for you to leave the ship. Luggage was easily findable as they are sorted in the terminal by tag color. Customs was quick and easy. Probably took us 30 minutes form cabin to our car. Moved very quickly, no hassle at all.
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