If Only Food Was Better

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 120

Review summary

This could have been a 4 or 5 star review if only the food was better. The ship was very nice and clean, and our ocean view stateroom was fabulous! The room was a very nice size and the bathroom space was wonderful--much roomier than the bathroom on our previous cruise with Carnival. Even though we had a partially obscured ocean view, it was a nice view. You couldn't even see the obstruction of the lifeboats when looking out the window from across the room. We got some nice pictures through the window. The room was clean and kept that way by the steward. The entertainment was excellent. We especially enjoyed the comedian, the magician/comedian, and the aerialists, although the singers/dancers were very good, too. We didn't miss a show! The food quality and offerings were a major disappointment, however. Since we were going to Alaska, we expected more seafood options based on what we had heard from others who'd been on Alaskan cruises. There wasn't much in the way of seafood, except a lot of salmon which was good, but we would have liked others. The food and options overall were just OK, not very special as we had experienced on Carnival, and no better than in some restaurants at home. Although we never spent the extra money to eat in the "specialized" restaurants on this cruise, looking at their menus didn't impress us with better options. I consider one of the main benefits of cruising is that you are paying an all-inclusive price, so it bothered me greatly that you were expected to pay more for a "better" dining experience. Although the staff worked extremely hard in the main dining room (Tsar's) and buffet, we didn't feel the special attention we felt on our previous cruise in the main dining room. Although we liked being able to eat when and where we wanted, we also missed getting to know the wait staff and other diners. Another annoyance was the feeling that passengers were always being "hit up" for money to be spent on extra things. We were very satisfied with the shore excursions we took, both in what we saw/did and the price. I was disappointed that the tour to the Saxman Native Village that I wanted to take was cancelled due to not enough interest unless you wanted to combine it with the Lumberjack Show which I didn't. We took the Misty Fjords boat tour instead which was nice. We went to the Hatchery, Glacier, and Gardens In Juneau--probably my favorite. We took the Yukon Scenic Tour in Skagway which was terrific, too. We stopped twice along the road to watch bears! All in all, we enjoyed this cruise very much but wished the food was better.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Seattle, Washington

Ketchikan, Alaska

Juneau, Alaska

Skagway, Alaska

Victoria, British Columbia