I was only disappointed in the weather (overcast and windy), everything else exceeded expectations! It did not feel crowded and there was plenty of options to make reservations throughout the cruise. Mid-december is a great time to cruise!
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Pretty smooth, just be sure to get a boarding group number from staff after you check in. No one gave us one, but I kept seeing other people with them, so I had to ask for one and was in a much later boarding group.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Buffet- fine for breakfast, but I didn't love the food for lunch. The menu was about the same everyday. I was surprised that there was not a lot of fruit available besides melon and whole apples. Rarely saw pineapple, never saw grapes or berries.
Teppenyaki and Modernos were good. Also tried all three dining rooms. Food was the same quality at all venues, staff friendliness varied. Reservations could be made or changed throughout cruise, it really was not crowded in specialty restaurants.
Bars: Most staff were friendly, but cocktails are very watered down. Its clear that the staff are used to the majority of people having the drink package. Most didnt even scan our cards, just gave us drinks. Oh, and it has to be 5oclock somewhere to get a Margaritaville drink, because it closes at 5 everyday.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
I actually picked the ship for the variety of things to do, and I was glad I did since we had really poor weather the entire cruise. Very cool and overcast.
Overall, I think the ship was not crowded and there were rarely lines for rock climbing, ropes course, water slides... The pool and hot tubs were usually busy, but I think that is the case on every sailing.
Many game shows are held in the atrium and that is crowded. All other venues seemed to have plenty of space. Again, it felt like it was not a full ship. We watched a movie under the stars with probably only 8 other people.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We saw the Cirque Dreams and Steam and it was good. It is a dinner show with a set menu of steak and shrimp. They did accommodate my request for chicken, but it was very slow to arrive. We saw both comedians and they were good.
We played Escape the Big top, which is an escape room style game. They put you in groups of about 8 people and you compete with other groups to solve puzzles the fastest. It was fun, I would think it would be for adults and kids over 12.
Children's Programs
We have no children, but we did see the kids parade around a lot and they were cute.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Most staff were very friendly. We had great help at the shore excursion desk and guest services. The bartenders at Margaritaville and Sugarcane were super nice. We did have some less than friendly service, but the majority were excellent.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Ship seemed very clean and in good shape.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We were very comfortable. The balcony is small. We were on deck 9 slightly forward and found this to be a good location. Love the shower door instead of curtain.
We did the Ultimate Beach Getaway through NCL. It was an overcast day, but we still had a nice time at this resort. It was mostly closed, before their busy season, so it was just probably 30 people from our ship there. They had beautiful pools, a beach, bar and restaurant. We only had a short time after to shop at the port, but it had some really unique items that I did not see at other ports.
We went to Chacchoben mayan ruins. It was about an hour bus ride there. Our guide was great and very informative. We spent about an hour and a half exploring before returning to the port. The port is very nice and has a beautiful pool you can sit by.
We went snorkeling and had a great time. The port was not as pretty but had good prices for some things. This was the only port we were sort of hassled to buy and look at things, though.
We thought we would just get a cab or uber back to the airport, but when we arrived for ebarkation, we saw there were hundreds of people waiting for the same thing. We purchased transfers from NCL and it was very smooth process to get to the airport.
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