Oh wow. I don't know what more I can say. We had the trip of a lifetime. We made great lifelong friends on the ship. The staff truly went above and beyond. The smaller ship is exactly what we wanted. Personalized service at every corner. It was too short!!! We could have stayed on for months. Great way to celebrate our honeymoon and my birthday.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
We are returning Latitude Rewards guests. Baggage line was none. They did a great job getting our checked bags immediately. The line into the building was long but smooth. Once inside, they split Latitude Rewards members from first timers. Guess there were a lot of returners as the Laitude Line was longer than first timers. It was pretty smooth though.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
We tried Teppanyaki for the first time. It was a blast. Best meal I have ever had on a ship. Well worth the money, but book early as there are only 10 spots / hour.
Main dining rooms were great. We actually only ate there twice as the buffet was more convenient and DELICIOUS. Best buffet on a ship!
We never had to wait for a drink. They were consistently good/spot-on. Ok--one exception of a too strong of a drink in the casino. I think he was trying to loosen me up! Lol. The staff was so great and acxomodating.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
The onboard activities were lacking a little bit on this ship. It is a smaller ship and not as many passengers. I'm usually all about doing these but not many striked my fancy as on previous cruises. That was OK. More pool time or casino time
Entertainment
3 out of 5
The main stage shows were good, not great. This ship being their smallest has some new shows they are trying out. It was definitely worth our time to see them. We did not see the hypnotist but heard VERY bad reviews on him.
I love to dance and went dancing every night (which closed early). The DJ was so aloof and didnt interact at all.
Also, on an 11 day cruise, there was only 3 days of karaoke. I requested more only to hear "the schedule can't be changed."
Children's Programs
No children
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Holy cow. This made our trip. Every single person on the ship did everything possible to make our cruise the best possible. I was sitting by a window with an empty glass for 3 min, and saw someone literally run to clear the glass and give me a refill. All staff remembered me by name (hopefully that's a good thing). I want to do this exact cruise again just to see some of my friends (the staff).
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
There was some weirdness in term of ship layout. There were a couple of public corridors that ended in a dead end. To go from front to aft, you had to know whether you were supposed to be port or starboard. It was not a big ordeal.
Everything on this ship was so clean. They did minor maintenance while we were on board but we hardly noticed. You wouldn't know this was a 20 year old ship.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
It was a good size. It was smaller than I expected by looking at youtube videos. I hate the tile in the bathroom. Way too corny. But the main living area was ample size. We really enjoyed our balcony view. Keeping the door open at night left the room nice and cool, and you could fall asleep to the ocean waves.
I went with low expectations...should have had lower expectations. We did an excursion thru NCL that visited Hassan II mosque. The mosque is definitely worth the visit, but I wish the rest of the tour had been cut. We got back on the ship totally whipped out. It was a 6 hour tour with no break for food or anything.
The juxtaposition to Lanzarote is amazing. Lanzarote was barren and Las Palmas was very lush and green. We did the highlights tour which we could have done on our own. I'd love to go back in summer and enjoy some of the beaches. Be sure to try to Mojo sauce with potatoes. YUM
We did not do an excursion here as I needed a rest day. We ended up walking the streets and shopping. Then we got some summer wine by the water. I'm craving it now!
Favorite favorite favorite. Madeira is a MUST for everyone. This is the prettiest place I have ever been. Mountains and valleys everywhere. We did the Best of Madeira and man...it was an amazing tour. Valley of the Nuns was much cooler than I expected. Cable car ride offered fabulous views. The toboggan was insanely fun.
I love Madeira.
We took a bus to Gibraltar. The tour was so early we got to take in the sunrise on the Costa del Sol. Some beautiful photos were taken. The rock was amazing to see. St Michael's cave was definitely worth it. It was gorgeous. They gave us ample time to explore the city and have a lunch. And a much needed nap on the bus ride back was taken.
We did not do an excursion here as I knew we would be exhausted by this point. We did walk the city and have some really cool photos. The town is quirky with some interesting streets (i.e. a street decorated with toadstools). I heard that the trolley tour was much better than the bus tour if you're looking for an excursion.
I was on the same cruise on Feb 24th and had a great experience with everything. We did the Rabat and Casablanca Tour and found Rabat to be an amazing city. We also had a balcony on deck 11 and enjoyed every moment we used it. I would recommend doing this cruise to anyone. I agree about Maderia and would go back there tomorrow for about a week if I could.
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