Take the Good With the Awful

We were on a 2 day cruise over Labor Day weekend so I am sure some of the organizational procedures were not in place that would normally be on a 7 day or longer cruise. First of all, the ship is amazing, not just in how huge it is, but also in its' offerings. The Ice and Diving shows were amazing, and the Comedy show was very funny. We enjoyed our stay and our room was very comfortable.

Having said all of this, we were disappointed with service and food. It started upon arrival. There was no room for parking at lot 18 so we were directed to lot 19. This in itself was fine, but after we parked we joined a LONG line to wait for two small shuttle buses to take us over to terminal 18. It was very hot in Fort Lauderdale's August sun. Check in was smooth. When we got on the ship, there was no one greeting passengers and directing them where to go. Communication seemed lacking the whole time onboard. When we went and used the pools, we went to one of two towel station open and asked three employees who were standing talking to each other about getting towels, we were directed to another station across the ship. The Windjammer Café was like musical chairs with no music. It was crowed and it was difficult to find seating. Breakfast was ok but anything else was awful. I was given a piece of roast beef that was about 5" square with a center of about 2" of fat. I figured maybe the meat would be tender. It wasn't and could not even be cut. Dinner in the dining room was better and the service was good. There was a 70's disco party the first night. I thought, great! Party under the stars on the deck. Nope, wrong! "Party" down on deck 5 where all the shops are. Not a party. Music while we encourage you to spend money. Very disappointing.

We enjoyed our quick getaway, but will probably avoid these massive ships. Not for us, especially because midsize ships offer better service and value for money. This was our 12th cruise  so we do have things to compare it to.