Nice choice for a family Christmas Cruise. The variety of ports was perfect and we were able to have experiences we never had before. Low pressure, relaxing time on the ship. There are plenty of parties and activities available if you’d like, but we preferred the laidback style and we’re able to find it here.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Ship had to change ports due to weather, but Royal Caribbean made the transfer to Port Canaveral easy by providing busses directly from the airpot in Tampa. Once in Port Canaveral signing in and was a breeze.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Lovely dining at 5:30 each evening. Great dining staff! Buffets abailable in different areas almost throughout the day and into the night. Plentiful food and much of of it exceptional.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
Adult pool area was quiet,peaceful and never overcrowded. Art show and auction run very well. Fun contexts throughout.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Cruise director and activities manager had great rapport and were so much fun to watch on tv daily reports with tips and guides, as well as when running game shows and classes; nice job on celebrating Christmas by hosting Santa Claus!! Stage shows were just fair and not first rate however, this the lower rating.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Staff constantly attentive. Waiters/assistants sincere and caring.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Smaller ship than most... no bells and whistles like some of the larger ships, but for our large family Christmas trip it was ideal.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Room for 3, with a bunk that pulls down from the ceiling(done by room attendant nightly)... being close to the front of the ship the windo well was very large, actually limiting the ability to peer out the window, but it let in nice light. Showered hit with good pressure. Only 2 outlets/plugs in the room... suggest bringing a power strip for extra outlets!!
Ship tip
Select a room close to the middle of the stateroom hallways for better windo access and accessibility to to elevators. Although it’s a smaller ship there is still plenty of walking required!
Dropped at the Navy pier which meant we had to be transferred by bus to Old Town, a small inconvenience Once there, we walked around Duval Street and surrounding area. Didn’t make it as far as the Southernmost point or Hemingway House in the time we had, but did make it back to the pier for sunset, which is a must!! My parents began with a trolley tour and if I had to do it again, I would opt for the trolley as a starting point to get an overview of the Key.
Toured Tulum Mayan Ruins. The process of getting there was a bit unwieldy... we had to take a taxi, then a rough ferry ride to the mainland (45 min) , then a bus to the site (45 min) plus a 15 minute walk through the port area to get to the bus. Nice tour of Tulum, a smaller ruins site, but the only one on the water; excellent tour guide, Arturo, was very knowledgeable and fun to listen too. Small, high pressure shopping area on walk back to bus. Once in bus small lunch onboard (Subway sandwich) and tour guide (Ernesto) was very patient and conscientious about making sure all passengers returned to bus before departure.
Have to “tender” boat in from the ship, no where to dock. Short, smith ride (10-15 minutes) Once in port easy to find Tour : snorkeling at the Reef (Sea Turtle and Shark Tour through ashore excursions group on bjs.com) Lunch also included at a Belizean restaurant on Caye Caulker. Tour guide, Stacy was outstanding!! We learned so much about the country of Belize. And once in the water she was excellent at leading Hyde group to interesting sites at the reef. We were driest time snorjelers and the whole crew was very patient and helpful. We ended up on a boat with 25 people and 3 crew after splitting up at the dock, which is a nice size group for this type of excursion. We say rays, cool fish, a sea turtle and sharks that were were able to swim with!! Once back in the city we were accosted by locals for hair braiding. One local told us she’d charge $2 per braid, not $5 like in the front of the pier ... we had 10 braids put in my daughters hair which she then charged $50 for, ckskmjbg cofnrows were knots that hanging braids that were only the quoted $2... we had no recourse but to pay the $50. The experience though was unique and felt very “local”. No problem using US dollars. The locals speak creole, a type of broken English and so language barrier was minimal.
Swam with Dolphins at this port. This was a highlight of the whole trip, a must do, if you’ve never done it before! Added cost of purchasing photos (no personal photos allowed) but well worth it! You get a private trainer and dolphin for 7 people. We miss our old girl already (Jaconda, age 28... old for a dolphin) and our trainer, Carla was excellent as well as was the photographer. The Dolphin experience is right at The shopping area in Costa Maya, which is clean and self contained ... we had lunch at a restaurant in the middle that had Mexican Wrestling as entertainment... so fun!! The vendors are expectedly pushy, but not overly so and will give you a fine bargain for cash and a little persistence.
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