First Major Retirement Getaway!

We flew in to Tampa two days early to enjoy the city and Riverwalk. Although the cruise terminal assignment was changed due to the Gasparilla Festival and Parade, the unexpected minor chaos changed to seemingly long lines. However, the lines moved well and we were aboard in about 45 minutes. Nobody's fault except the pirates. Argggh.

We ate in the buffet often due to convenience, mostly for breakfast. We also had breakfast twice in O'Sheehan's and in the Grand Pacific MDR on the last morning. The buffet was as expected, with a wide selection. O'Sheehan's was great, but the menu was limited and portions smaller. Most dinners were split between the two MDRs, Grand Pacific and Alizar. We did Grand Pacific in the aft when the sun was still up for great views. Food at each was above average. There was a section of the menu that didn't change, but another with a rotation of a more varied selection. Shout out to Marly and Bernadine in Alizar and Anis in the Grand Pacific for great service. We did three specialty dinners. The first was Cagney's. Our steak and lamb chops were exceptional. Service great despite booking the earliest dinner time and large groups being seated at the same time as us. Second was Le Bistro. Food quality and service were great. Our only complaint was the bright lighting. When the manager came around, we mentioned this and she said they were aware and the problem was to be fixed at the next dry dock. The third and worst experience was Moderno, the Brazilian steakhouse. The salad bar was amazing with shrimp and salmon. The first two meats to make the rounds, flank steak and sirloin, were excellent. Next was lamb. It was barely cooked, the most rare meat I have ever been served. When I complained, the manager said he would fix it. In a few minutes, he brought over a plate of seared lamb, sliced thin and cooked through like jerky. I would have been happy to wait for the next skewer, but he insisted on doing his interpretation of a solution. The next meat was bacon-wrapped chicken breast which was dried out. Then two other beef cuts, including filet mignon, both of which were cut with the grain, rendering them to be too tough to eat. We spent most of our evenings at Magnum's Champagne and Wine Bar. Shout out to Nandang (Indonesia), the bartender, Komang (Indonesia) and Krissie (Philippines), the bar waiters. They kept our glasses filled and since we got the Premium Plus package, it was always the more expensive ones. I tipped them extra often, since they worked so hard and they appreciated it. Another great bartender was Jamilla in the Great Outdoors, Deck 12 aft. She put on a show shaking drinks for the customers and had a great sense of humor. We also frequented the Java Cafe for Starbucks since it was included in our Premium Plus drink package.

We really enjoyed the pools. We were told there were only 14 or 15 children aboard, not counting the three 60+ year old kids doing cannonballs in the adult pool. The lifeguard warned them, but they continued until security took down their information. I pointed out the numerous cameras to their embarrassed wives. There were the usual chair hogs, but even worse were the loungers on Deck 13 that blocked the walking track with their chairs. We didn't do bingo or any of the other activities which seemed to be geared to selling stuff. We bought the Thermal Spa package, mostly as insurance to avoid crowds, but only used it a few times. It offered great solitude when we wanted to get away from people. We did view the Captain's Bridge on Deck 11, but nobody was playing bridge when we visited. All they did was steer the ship, but it was fun to see. The ship's wheel is small, not like the huge ones commonly found in seafood restaurants. We are not gamblers nor do we enjoy second-hand smoke, so we did not visit the casino.

Since we hung out mostly at Magnum's Champagne and Wine Bar, we often heard Diego the guitar player from Brazil, Anfisa, the piano player from Greece, and Prelude Duo from the Philippines. Diego was awesome with a voice like John Mayer. He spent his breaks chatting with the audience including us many times. Anfisa was less engaging. Although a great piano player, her strong accent detracted from the songs when she sang. Prelude Duo was a male piano/synthesizer player with his cousin, a female singer. The piano player was very talented and had a great voice, but his cousin had an even more amazing and strong voice. Besides these three acts, there were a couple other guitar and piano players that rotated around, but the atrium could have used more entertainment instead of a constant slide show of the crew on the big screen. The DJ's and other bands around the pool were okay, but usually too loud. The best entertainment was the comedian in the Stardust Theater, Simon Cotter from Canada. We saw two shows plus attended an additional coffee chat. He was very funny, read the room, and kept his act clean. We chatted with him twice during our time on board and he was engaging and down-to-earth. We missed the two stage shows, Elements and Blazing Boots because we waited too long, until late in the cruise and they were cancelled due to rough weather the last four days.

Did not travel with children.

All of the service crew members were hardworking and willing to please. Our room steward, Romil, kept everything clean, well-stocked and straightened out. Waiters everywhere were quick to serve or bus tables. Several of our dining room waiters were often seen in other venues like the buffet and O'Sheehan's, so these people truly work like crazy.

We did lots of research prior to boarding so we knew our way around the ship. This included knowing what decks do not pass through the entire length of the ship and when to avoid the midship elevators and use the fore and aft ones. The ship was constantly being cleaned. I often needed to find an alternate restroom in common areas because the one I wanted was being cleaned. Nothing I saw was broken or needed to be fixed.

Booking an interior cabin, we knew the room would be small. Our room was still clean and comfortable, with room to store everything. Outlets were adequate and we brought a power strip and multiple-port USB charger. The USB outlets near the bed were used for our wireless phone charging pads. The biggest problem was that we needed to pull down our packing cubes every time we needed to get dressed since there wasn't much room to spread out except on the bed. The bathroom was small, especially around the toilet. Shower water pressure and temperature control was great and it was nice to have a sliding door instead of a curtain. Poo-pourri and orange-scented room deodorizing spray were nice to have.

We reserved a 9:15am disembarkation time so we had a nice leisurely lunch in the Grand Pacific MDR prior to leaving the ship. We were off the ship in about 15 minutes after getting in line. Very organized and the facial recognition helped.