Overall it was a great experience highlighted by the Panama Canal Transit.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
MDR was good for the most part, and so was Samba Grill. Chops was a disappointment, however. Our 1st visit was for lunch on embarkation day, and the MR steaks were MW. Also, the Key Lime pie was terribly sweet, had no citrus flavor, and the merengue topping was gritty (undisclosed sugar) and wet. Service was great, though.
The offered us a "make it right" dinner for $20 each. We took them up on the offer a couple days later and the steaks were a lot better but the lobster add-on was WAY over cooked. The tail meat was all mushy. Service again was great.
Note: the Key Lime Pie in the MDR had the same high level of sweetness and lack of citrus flavors.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Plenty to do over 16 days
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Excellent and wonderful are not enough to describe this crew - all the way up to and including the Captain.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
There is something wrong with the water system - specifically the cold water in our stateroom. It wad measured as high as 41.6ºC (107ºF) during the numerous maintenance visits. This went on for the entire trip. Taking a shower left our skin red when we were done and our bodies sweating. We were given the option to take our showers in the spa on deck 11 (I would have rather had it fixed).
Overall, though, the ship was laid out well clean, and we'll maintained.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
As mentioned earlier, lots of issue with our "cold" water being too hot. Otherwise it was very comfortable. One note....this balcony room was listed as 0% obstructed however there was a huge overhang above us the blocked any upward view and a cover over the lifeboats below us that blocked any downward view. Our only view was straight out
We did the swimming with the stingrays excursion, and it was total CRAP! We were supposed to be in waist deep water - it was a lot deeper than that plus waves were crashing on top of us (I'm 6'7" and they were cresting over my head) knocking us off our feet. Other similar excursions were canceled due to rough seas. One of the other passengers overheard the crew discussing canceling the excursion, and the decision was no because they needed the money. It was an extremely dangerous and unenjoyable event. RC was notified, and they graciously refunded 50% of our excursion price.
We did the Eco Cruise on Gatun Lake. It did not live up to our expectations. The description said we were to explore back channels, islands, and bays - we just floated along the shoreline on the opposite side of the lake from the dock.
Where we docked at the Port of Tampa it got pretty congested (people-wise) fairly quickly. They'd call group numbers then stop the line because the terminal was backed up. Once we got in the terminal it went pretty smooth.
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