A nice 5 day relocation cruise. Easy pace and great for simply getting away for a few days.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Easiest Vancouver loading experience. This was our fourth cruise out of Vancouver and by far the fastest and easiest
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
We typically enjoy the main dining room for our evening meals. We added an AMAZING Chef's Table experience and an equally AMAZING Chops Grille steakhouse experience
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Trivia & Tri-Bond were our favorites for indoor activities
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Piano Man, on the main stage was delightful. Katherine the Piano Woman was a regular nightly stop for us after dinner. The Kronos Band was also great for a listen or a dance!
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Staff was capable and professional. Our room was cleaned and refreshed twice a day. Easy communication with the Room Steward through a door sign magnet, signaling we had left for a block of time (versus - Do Not Disturb). Waitstaff was busy in the Dining Room, but attentive. Had the ship been full, I don't think they would have been able to keep meet our expectations (which to be clear - they were EXCELLENT).
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Cleanliness - 5 stars. Layout may appeal to others more than me. There are carve outs in the design of the ship which create a need to go outside if you don't want to cross to the other side of the ship and walk indoors. If I had a choice, for example, I would prefer not to pass through the Schooner Bar as the only access to the Colony Club.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Roomy cabin with a full size couch. A great view from a secluded balcony. Two chairs, 1 small table and 1 reclining chaise lounge chair with some room to walk around. Bathroom has only a shelf under neath the vanity and small counter space. Curved shower curtain allowed just enough room and is weighted just enough to keep it from swinging in to grab your skin. Amenities on our cruise included a bar of soap for hand washing and a hair/body wash gel dispenser in the shower stall. Water pressure and temperature control were excellent. TV channels were limited. If tables and chairs are moved on the outdoor dining deck above, the sounds transfer down through the ceiling (but the crowd noise does not). Our three suitcases stored neatly under the bed after being emptied into the closet, shelves and drawer space provided.
Do your research - quaint small town. Limited services such as taxi, rental car and ride-share. Difficult to plan your own excursion outside of walking to the downtown business district. Local Chamber of Commerce did staff the Visitor Center and offered friendly advice. We visited on a Sunday (Enterprise Rent A Car Closed, Mom's Taxi is only Monday-Friday). Cruise excursion to Fort Clatsop National Park is expensive for $10 National Park admit per person and charted school bus transportation. If you are a fan of US History, figure out if you can go with the cruise ship excursion or simply get to the park visitor center for a couple of hours.
30 minutes to tender to the dock, once you are actually on the tender boat. We didn't get up early for tender tickets, so our turn was approximately 2 hours after the tender services started. Santa Barbara had a downtown market and a lively group of businesses on State Street. We enjoyed walking and looking around. We had limited time available due to the tender timing. Would rate this better if we had a full day to enjoy in the port.
Rating is clouded by Cruise Excursion for the San Diego Zoo - which is a wonderful place to visit, just not on the Cruise Excursion... We paid $169 per person expecting a guided tour of San Diego and drop for a day at the Zoo. We did get a bus to take us to the Zoo. Our "escort" made certain to share that he was not a "Tour Guide" but simply the escort for our trip over to the Zoo. Write-up implied a double deck bus ride from the port to the zoo with information on San Diego and its history. We weren't the only ones looking for the double deck bus. Which by the way, the San Diego Zoo has - double deck buses - that are available to any patron with a day ticket which is about $59 per person. Go to the San Diego Zoo. Take a taxi or ride share for $20 or less, buy your own ticket(s) and ride back to port on your schedule for another $20 or so.
We had an evening flight home, so we took the airport excursion which toured LA, Hollywood and Beverly Hills. It was a good way to see some of the top highlights of the area with only a few hours.
Thanks for the detailed review. We have a 5 day western caribbean cruise in about 2 weeks. Looking forward to checking out this ship. Looks super nice but I think smaller than any of our previous cruises.
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