Enjoyed the cruise and would do it again - would spend a little more ocean time next time but wanted to see areas of the islands I hadnât been to before. Would also stay in the suite again .. the perks were worth the added expense! â„ïž Hawaii ... my happy place! đșđŽđ„°
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Went smooth from luggage drop off to the lei greeting to check in - we were in a suite so it was even easier & they had hors dâoeuvres for us then escorted us to our cabin.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
We ate the buffet for lunch and then Cadillac Diner for dinner the first night - they were both just okay. The server at Cadillac wasnât real friendly and the food was just okay. The meals in the main dining rooms were good. Since we were in a suite we had breakfast each morning at Cagneyâs and it was a gourmet breakfast - sooooo good!
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
Didnât participate in any of the activities as we were off the ship at each port.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
The shows were good, not great, but they were entertaining.
Children's Programs
No children.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Most of the waiters/servers were great, had a few that seemed less than excited to be there. Our room steward, Junell, was GREAT! He was so kind, always had a smile on his face, and went the extra mile if we needed something. We had a butler since we were in a suite and he checked on us several times a day to see if we needed anything and to inform us of any perks we needed to make sure to take advantage of. Most of the crew we encountered were very pleasant. The two times I went to the coffee bar the personnel were underwhelming. Turns out if you have the ultimate beverage package (at $99/day - luckily I didnât pay for it) it does NOT cover specialty coffee drinks. đ€ (ps-it does on Holland America & their drinks tasted better).
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Everything was clean and pretty well-maintained. Most of the windows looked either dirty or scratched, couldnât tell. The ship is a little dated but they are putting it in dry dock in April so I'm sure thatâll be addressed.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Cabin was actually bigger than I thought. Itâs called a 1-BR family cabin w/obstructed view. There are tenders right outside the windows so it is definitely obstructed, but itâs actually 2-br/2 bath with a foyer you come into off the hallway. The smaller room wasnât that big but had plenty of storage. The main bedroom was almost the size of 2 cabins with a large bed/sitting area, dressing area, open area walk in closet. Both bathrooms were typical cruise ship size - very small. Loved the suite, needs updating, windows were either scratched or dirty on the outside.
Ship tip
Wait to go after it comes out of dry dock in April/May 2020 to see what theyâve updated. If you can swing a suite do it - the perks are worth it! If the ultimate beverage package doesnât come free with your booking and youâre not a big drinker DONâT buy it AND donât expect specialty coffee drinks to be included. Itâs also confusing because they make you sign a receipt that looks like youâre being charged for your drink - they say itâs for accounting purposes and youâre not being charged the extra, just whatever tip you put on there. The receipt says a gratuity is added already but the servers say itâs not. đ€·đ»ââïž
Shopping at Lahaina was nice. Had lunch at Fleetwoods rooftop with a great view of the ocean - food was really good, enjoyed the live music, and our server was great. Second day we, unknowingly, drove the Road to Hana on the way to the Hana airport to take a flight on a piloted, motorized hang glider at Hang Gliding Maui - Armin was nice and funny. Views of the coast and mountains was amazing!
We did Kona by land and sea here - was a nice mix of touring different land marks of Kona and then getting on a large double deck catamaran (?) to see the coastline and area where Captain Cook first made landfall. We saw spinner dolphins and bottle nosed dolphins. Crew were great and enjoyed the narration and the live music.
We did the all day Discover Kauai & Luau. Our driver/guide for our tour of Kauai, Lisa, was GREAT! She was very informative and she was hilarious - she could be a comedian, seriously!! The luau was okay to me - Iâve been to several and this wasnât your typical luau. It had a bit more of an artsy element in the story telling that isnât your traditional luau so if you like the âtraditionalâ style, as I do, this may not be for you.
Went smoothly - we chose the walk off since we werenât doing an excursion so we didnât need to leave our luggage outside our door. Because we were in a suite our butler came and escorted us to the disembarkation area for our final exit and card swipe.
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