As a family of four, this was a great cruise, just long enough to get away and not too long to where we felt trapped on the ship. Six stops was perfectly timed too. We weren't too exhausted and having that last day at sea to relax was great. The staff, crew, and officers were all friendly and made our trip a delight.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
We scheduled to embark between 11-11:30am, the lines were a little confusing since they had sanctions placed everywhere in an odd manner, took us roughly 1 hour from the time of arrival at 11am to actually be on the ship. Our luggage was delivered around 4pm. Everyone was friendly and helped direct us and our two small children to move the process along.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
The buffet was like any other, good breakfast and variety for lunch and dinner. When on the ship we switched having breakfast between buffet and dining rooms. The food was of the same quality but full service in dining rooms. We checked out the specialty dining restaurants throughout the cruise as well. Be sure to get a reservation for teppanyaki as early into your trip as possible. We did not put in a reservation until day 2 of the cruise, so on day 8 we were stuck with what was a rather late dinner for us at 9 pm. The food was fantastic and the chef was very engaging and funny. Worth the late meal. Moderno was easier to get into without a reservation and the service was excellent, they weren't too quick to pile more food on our plates and quickly came back with more lamb when requested.
Atrium Café
4 out of 5
Good service but always busy, they got our orders right and were very polite.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
We used the pool everyday. For a ship with roughly 2600 people on it, it was a small pool. We used the little guppies pool as well for our two kids. They liked warming up in the smaller pool and it's fenched/gated in so the kids couldn't wander off without supervision. Our oldest would have liked being able to splash a bit more in the shared pool though.
Shuffleboard was available (2 game boards on deck), oversized chess and checkers with the sundeck level was nice. Kids really enjoyed Splash Academy, a nice perk for parents with reservations for dinner or needing a dew moments to just have a drink at the bar. We spent a lot of time getting drinks at the Great Outdoors bar behind the buffet on the rear of the ship, Chris made a fantastic bloody Mary. My husband used the jogging track and the fitness area, he had no complaints, just enough to keep up on his regular exercise.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The nightly shows were great, the theater is large and clean. Depending on what kind of entertainment you like, they've got a variety. We caught a comedy show, magic show and a variety show on the second to final night.
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
Our kids were not thoroughly impressed at first, but then the activities began and the plethora of balloon animals was enough to make a 5 and 3 year old happy. Our kids were welcomed everywhere on the ship and the kids club, Splash Academy, had a wonderful staff. The team was very organized and knew exactly how to keep up with the various age ranges of kids.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
The concierge was excellent, everyone was kind and for the most part knowledgeable or found the answers quickly.
We had so many staff members remember our names and were extremely generous on lending a hand. Our stateroom steward was on top of everything. She swapped our pool towels and bathroom towels out very quickly. The waiters were always kind and helpful with any special requests. The officers were great when we were wandering the ship and everyone involved in photography had a great attitude.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Everything was extremely clean. We had to swap a blanket that had probably been left in the closet too long after our first night but bathrooms, showers, and the common areas for tables were always clean.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
The size of the room was as expected. We had 2 adults and 2 children in the room. We used the trundle bed for our three year old and the fold down bunk for our five year old. The closet had plenty of space to hold a suitcase and hanging items. The three drawers provided were enough space for us. The fridge was a little small so storing only 1 water bottle at a time was possible. We stored our shoes and secondary suitcase under the bed that didn't store the trundle. It was very clean and our steward was on top of it. The clothesline in the shower held our wet bathing suits so the steward helped keep the moisture out by making sure the towels were dry.
Ship tip
Befriend your crew. The staff responds well to good manners and a kind attitude. We never had an issue with any of our simple requests. We know people are going to have a bad day so just being friendly was all it took to have our drinks poured right, food requests met and a continuously clean stateroom.
I would again suggest to book your dinner reservations before boarding the ship and try everything, the variety for 11 days is great to have!
We stayed on the ship and got up early to watch the passing through the locks portion. We couldn't find an excursion worth our wild based on reviews, with a 3 year old and 5 year old what sounded like four hours in boat, bus, car or train, they would have been miserable. So we had fun on the ship, enjoying the view.
This port was clean by the dock and no peddlers, but the second you got out of the gates there was an overwhelming number of people begging for your business. We only had 3 hours to pick up a few souveniers and grabbed a bite to eat at a local restaurant next to the port. The food was good and the bakery we stopped by for a couple pastries was even better.
The port had a large number of vendors on site. We got all we needed from only mildly pushy peddlers. Learn Spanish before arriving here. The excursions through the cruise line were outrageously priced. We went out into the streets and hired a taxi for the day. We had him take us on a private tour through the Chiquita banana,plantation, we went down river just off the shore of Bananito Sur, then took a private boat tour of the Rio Blanco river where we saw monkeys, a sloth, a crocodile and so many of Costa Rica's famous birds. Then we stopped off for lunch at a local dive bar that has no name but Priscilla was amazing. We made our way back to port by the same driver and wouldn't change this experience.
We booked an excursion on our own by contacting The Little French Key, they had some of the best reviews and provided us with free transportation to and from the port. The drive from the port was roughly 35 minutes (traffic and poor road maintenance slowed us down), then a short 5 minute ferry across to the island. We LOVED this destination. The folks on this island were so kind and hospitable, we bought an exotic leopard swim interaction package with full access to the island. Worth every penny. We had access to kayaks, paddle boards, snorkeling gear and the animals on the island are majority rescues from the zoo. The food was good, drinks were good, and the facilities were clean.
This port was clean with vendors, the moment we were out of the gate was a bit sketchy. It did not feel very safe. We hired a private driver and again, you need to know Spanish to get around without a guide. Unless you take a boat north of the port the drive towards anything worth seeing is long. It's about an hour and a half each way. Casacadas calientes el paraiso hot springs was beautiful though. The photos I have are too big to upload here. It is through the mountains and near the banana and rubber tree fields that go on for hundreds of acres. The port however, was not a great place to be.
We needed an easy going day, so we did not book an excursion. We did book with the ships photographers to do a photo shoot. Marco and Michael with Prospective Photography Studios came out to the beach with us an for an hour and captured some fantastic family portraits. The kids loved the guys and hammed it up quite nicely. This port is owned by NCL so no peddlers to deal with on the beach or even feeling of pushy people in the shops as you passed by. We had a mishap with one of the kids and being so close to the ship made it easy to run back to our room. The beach was beautiful and clean, there is a kids splash pad and plenty of clean restrooms. As a family, we didn't need an excursion. Everything to relax, snack and enjoy the sand on our toes was all there.
The port is chaotic but we'll designed with tons of shops and access to restaurants. There's a trolley into town for $3/person (or a cab is $2/person outside of the gates) and it takes about 10 minutes to drive. We did not book an excursion here, we should have though. We waited too long and the excursions were sold out to the Mayan Ruins. Weparked ourselves on the beach with food and drinks. The water was so blue and the owners of the restaurant were very friendly. Peddlers all along the beach but that was expected.
We did easy walk off, carried all of our bags and suitcases. Just had our key cards ready and much like embarking, just a long line of everyone leaving. Took about an hour and arranged pick up for our Uber was right outside. Not too difficult at all. It felt smooth.
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