This was our first cruise. The crew on board was excellent: friendly, helpful and professional. I was surprised at the average age of guests being a much older crowd which made the trip much more low key than I expected. Our group was in their 40s & 50s and probably 75% of the guests on board were well over the age of retirement (70 years plus) and I was expecting more of a party atmosphere. The entertainment on board was okay but I guess I expected more. I enjoyed the Beatles tribute band and the comedians but I wish there had been more headliners to see. The fun and games at the pool was very subdued and really low key. This was probably mostly because of the average age of guests being so much older and not really a party crowd. At times the crew had a difficult time getting enough guests to participate in the few things that were offered at the pool. The Scottish singer/guitar player at the Crowne Pub was excellent and entertaining. The Vortex night club looked like a great place but the couple of times we went to it there was literally no one in it, just the DJ & bartender. The entertainment on this ship was much more mellow and low key than I had anticipated, even boring at times. There definitely was not enough to do while on the ship. Raj & Ryan, bartenders at the pool bar were excellent. Funny & entertaining guys that kept us laughing all week. The food was good throughout our trip as was service from housekeeping & wait staff.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
Not enough to do. Too many lectures and not enough entertainment.
Entertainment
1 out of 5
Not enough to do. Boring at times. The comedians were good as was the Beatles tribute band but that was it. The magician was awful. Topi's (entertainment director) night of singing with the house band was awful. We got up and left about 4 songs into his set. The Scottish singer/guitar player at the Crowne Pub was excellent, probably the best entertainment on board during the whole trip. The piano bar, Centrum lounge & Vortex night club were boring. Very low key. Not what we expected at all.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
It feels like an older ship. It was clean and our housekeeper was excellent but I was surprised at how awful our state room smelled. Luckily we had a friend that had cruised before that recommended we bring "stick up" air fresheners for our room and I am glad we did, It really did help.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Ship tip
We got the deluxe drink package which i would recommend to every adult guest if you are planning on drinking alcohol while on vacation. We purchased it ahead of time online and received a discount for doing so. It was money well spent.
Very mountainous island. We took a taxi to the Sulphur Springs/volcano. 38 miles each way from the ship port to the springs on very winding roads. The springs themselves are a very short excursion that can be seen in about 15 minutes. Longer if you choose to take a mud bath.
Our taxi driver brought us to Pebble Beach which is a public beach with no entrance fee. It was very clean and beautiful with restrooms available to change in. We saw sea turtles while we were swimming almost close enough to touch.
We took a water taxi for $10 US per person round trip from the ship port to Grand Anse Beach. Our day on Grenada was short so we did not want to take a taxi all over the island. The beach was gorgeous & clean and there were some local crafters/vendors set up there as well as food/drinks available.
Gorgeous island. We were told it is the scuba diving capital of the world. We took a taxi to Spice/Eden Beach for $2.50 US per person each way to the beach and rented snorkeling gear when we got there. Plenty of fish to see snorkeling right from beach. There is a hotel/restaurant/pool & bar right there on the beach available for use as well as beach lounge chairs available for rent for $5 per day. We had a great time. This would be a difficult beach to be at for the day if you had small children. Very rocky/coral coast so you are not able to slowly walk into the water or play in any shallow areas. We got in the water from a small dock on the beach which was immediately over our heads when we got in. Although we loved this beach I would not recommend it to anyone with small children.
Aruba is a beautiful, desert like island with plenty of gorgeous coastline. We rented a private taxi that brought us all over the island (lighthouse, oldest church, wild donkeys, Casibari rock formations, and to Baby Beach which was absolutely gorgeous. Small, uncrowded and lagoon-like. The water at Baby Beach was crystal clear turquoise, warm and very shallow. You could walk out for a long, long time before it got deep. There is a restaurant/bar on the beach available for food and drinks. I wish we would have had longer to stay at this beach. It was gorgeous.
We were part of the older crowd on ð. I believe the ship is going into dry dock after October to be refurbished. We liked the ship. If your looking for a party ship try Carnival Miracle. We were on it I believe in 2007. The only problem we had was departure in terminal 25. It was a mess with the luggage. We used the mobile passport line after we found it. Our luggage was all the way in the other corner away from the mobile passport line. Hope you enjoyed the cruise. ð
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