Great Caribbean Cruise

Since we were booked into the Haven suites we received VIP treatment. We were escorted to a booking room and given refreshments. We were escorted to a waiting area and then after a few minutes onto the ship. I cannot comment on the embarkation procedure for the regular guests.

We only ate at one of the main dining rooms once. It was the Tropicana and the food and service was very good. We had breakfast in the Haven Restaurant and the food was very good. We ate dinner in the Haven twice. The first time I was sea sick and little on the menu was tempting. I had the duck entree and it was excellent. I did not have a dessert because nothing looked tempting. The second time I had the prime rib and it was rather average. My daughter ordered the surf and turf. Her meat was well done instead of the medium rare she ordered. However it was it was still juicy and tender. I did have a dessert but it was difficult to pick because none of them appealed to me. The one I picked was good. Bar service was excellent. We ate at 3 specialty restaurants. Ocean Blue was our favorite. Everything was top notch and delicious. The menu choices were very good. Moderno was also very good, but we never got the pork loin we wanted to try since the meat was never fully cooked while we were there. The chicken came around twice and we turned it down because we wanted the pork, lamb and beef. Filet mignon was very good, lamp chop was excellent. The cheesy bread delighted my husband and daughter. It was OK but there were so many other things to eat. The salad bar was very good. You really have to pick and choose what you will eat because there is so much food and a lot of it was excellent. Dessert choice was also very good. We ate in the Illusiarium twice. This venue comes with a show. The first time was for Wine lovers, the musical and the second time was the Cirque. The meal is a set menu and in both instances just OK. Wine lovers came with 6 half glasses of different wines. All but one wine did not suit our taste. We like light fruity wines and the wines tended to be very dry. The meal with Cirque was extremely garlicy. I like garlic but it was a bit much. We went to the garden cafe a couple of times for snacks. Since we did excursions most days we only had lunch on board twice, once at Wine Lovers and once at the Haven, so we would get a snack to tide us over until dinner.

My daughter enjoyed the water slides and ropes course. Manny on the piano would have been nice to listen to but his venue seemed to be the Atrium which is unpleasantly loud and music cannot be heard over the loud talking in the bar areas. Also any of the game shows etc in the atrium made it unpleasant to be in the upper level enjoying a drink or eat a meal. We dined at O'Sheehan's once. Food was good. Really nice hot apple pie and ice cream. The production shows were very good. I mostly relaxed on the Haven sun deck. The Haven was very quiet and not crowded.

Burn the Floor was great! 4 million dollar quartet was more a backstory rather than a lot of songs from the four performers-Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. It was good and the performers did a good job impersonating the stars but I would have preferred more songs. The Cirque show was excellent. Wine Lovers the musical was entertaining even though I did not like the wine. The comedians were typical.

Both Arvin, our steward, and Naveem, our butler, were attentive and friendly. We are not particularly demanding but they anticipated our needs.

Public rest rooms were acceptable. Sometimes hard to find. The area around the atrium contains the Casino and smells of cigarettes even though we did not notice anyone smoking while we were there. However we turn in early and maybe the smoking is more prevalent late at night. All the public seating we tried is uncomfortable. There is little to no back support. The comedy club had hard wooden chairs similar to 1950's high schools. There was no space between chairs so you were hip to hip with the people next to you. The public pools were crowded. I only used the Haven pool and sun deck. The lounges there were comfortable.

We had a 2 bedroom suite. I expected both bedrooms to have beds. The 2nd bedroom had a sofa similar to the sofa in the living area. The bottom sheet could not be anchored to the sofa surface. The storage space for the main bedroom was excellent. We did not use all of it. The 2nd bedroom storage was adequate for one person. But if 2 people were sharing, it would inadequate. The balcony was very small with only 2 chairs and a small table. We enjoy having lounge chairs on our balcony and there is not enough room for that. The TV remotes did not work very well. You can check your account on the TV which is very convenient. However the restaurant menus are not viewable on your TV which seems rather dumb. You have to go to one of the view screens in the public areas and check menus there. No one told us about that and we did not discover it until late in our cruise. That should have been mentioned in our welcome packet. Otherwise the cabin was very nice.

This was a very smooth disembarkation. However the lines were long.