mmacdcc
January 1st, 2005, 08:12 PM
I meant to write one before, but got caught up in the holidays and haven't been here much.
This was our first cruise, and we had a really good time. I felt totally pampered, thought the staff was very friendly and attentive.
We had cabin 4167, no problems other than an intermittent toilet not flushing, which was always taken care of very quickly (and we weren't the only ones, not sure why). AC was fine, thermostat worked well, as we adjusted the temp a few times (we do this at home too -- my husband is always complaining it's cold).
We ate dinner most times in the dining room. Once in the Pinacle, and we did the barbecue on the Lido (we'd gone on the party cruise and didn't feel like getting changed). I thought the food was excellent, as well as the service. We had main lower, 8:30 seating. That's good for us, we normally eat late anyway and don't have any little ones to worry about. I didn't notice any noise or vibration except for the really rough sea day we had.
We had room service breakfast a couple of times, both times they delivered it at the time requested. We only had coffee, juice, croisants, muffins and fruit, so there wasn't anything to get cold. It was really nice to have breakfast on the balcony, I loved that.
I was impressed with the selection and variety in the Lido for breakfast and lunch. I just LOVED the currant buns at breakfast. They were just like the ones I used to get when we lived in England, and on the rough days I'd have those and tea.
I thought the ship was just gorgeous, very clean, very European looking. There were lots of little bars and places to relax that weren't crowded. There was a lot to do, if you wanted it, but I don't feel like anything was pushed on you. I didn't notice music in the hallways, or lots of announcements.
The entertainment was good, not jump up and cheer wow, but good. We went to the crew show, which I thought was excellent. I do amateur theatre, and I know how much work goes into something like that, and they did a wonderful job. Kory in the piano bar was great, really good and lots of fun. We probably spent more evenings there than anywhere else.
I took the kitchen tour, that was really interesting. The kitchens were absolutely spotless, and way larger than I expected. (Though to be fair, I wasn't sure what to expect.) The cooking demonstration was really good too. I also did the backstage tour, but while the costumes were beautiful and the sets were interesting, a theater is pretty much the same everywhere. It was fun talking to the entertainers, though.
While the ship was full, there were very few children, and the few we saw were mostly pre-school age (and just little dolls and very well behaved!). We figured that would be the case, and that was one of the reasons we booked the date we did -- school age kids would be doing holiday stuff, college kids would be doing finals, so we figured there wouldn't be many of them.
We went on the KonTiki party cruise in St. Thomas, which was a BLAST. Really, really fun. Well worth the money. We also went on the forest hike and beach in Tortola, which was also good. Our guides were great, very fun. It had rained, and it was foggy, so we couldn't see as much as I would have liked on the hike part, but the beach was gorgeous and the water was warm, the sun was shining, it was wonderful.
We just wandered around in Nassau and bought a few souvenirs and took a few pictures. While the prices on things were good, I wasn't looking for jewelry and we have outlet malls nearby where I can get perfume as cheap, if not cheaper, than I've ever found at any of the duty free places.
We spent about what I figured, which was a little more than the $60/day, but I got a facial and some other stuff, played bingo (a lot!), bought souvenirs, and we got the 4 bottle wine package and had drinks every day (not a lot, but more than my normal wine with dinner, and my husband had a few beers, so it adds up).
I didn't get seasick, except a little later in the evening the one really rough day. My husband NEVER gets seasick, or motion sickness of any kind. I rarely do, but it was pretty rough and once the sun goes down I lose the horizon and that's when it affects me.
But it was worth it. Every penny. I'd go again, no question. I think I'd want to try a different ship -- just because I don't like to do exactly the same vacation every time, not because I didn't like the ship.
This was our first cruise, and we had a really good time. I felt totally pampered, thought the staff was very friendly and attentive.
We had cabin 4167, no problems other than an intermittent toilet not flushing, which was always taken care of very quickly (and we weren't the only ones, not sure why). AC was fine, thermostat worked well, as we adjusted the temp a few times (we do this at home too -- my husband is always complaining it's cold).
We ate dinner most times in the dining room. Once in the Pinacle, and we did the barbecue on the Lido (we'd gone on the party cruise and didn't feel like getting changed). I thought the food was excellent, as well as the service. We had main lower, 8:30 seating. That's good for us, we normally eat late anyway and don't have any little ones to worry about. I didn't notice any noise or vibration except for the really rough sea day we had.
We had room service breakfast a couple of times, both times they delivered it at the time requested. We only had coffee, juice, croisants, muffins and fruit, so there wasn't anything to get cold. It was really nice to have breakfast on the balcony, I loved that.
I was impressed with the selection and variety in the Lido for breakfast and lunch. I just LOVED the currant buns at breakfast. They were just like the ones I used to get when we lived in England, and on the rough days I'd have those and tea.
I thought the ship was just gorgeous, very clean, very European looking. There were lots of little bars and places to relax that weren't crowded. There was a lot to do, if you wanted it, but I don't feel like anything was pushed on you. I didn't notice music in the hallways, or lots of announcements.
The entertainment was good, not jump up and cheer wow, but good. We went to the crew show, which I thought was excellent. I do amateur theatre, and I know how much work goes into something like that, and they did a wonderful job. Kory in the piano bar was great, really good and lots of fun. We probably spent more evenings there than anywhere else.
I took the kitchen tour, that was really interesting. The kitchens were absolutely spotless, and way larger than I expected. (Though to be fair, I wasn't sure what to expect.) The cooking demonstration was really good too. I also did the backstage tour, but while the costumes were beautiful and the sets were interesting, a theater is pretty much the same everywhere. It was fun talking to the entertainers, though.
While the ship was full, there were very few children, and the few we saw were mostly pre-school age (and just little dolls and very well behaved!). We figured that would be the case, and that was one of the reasons we booked the date we did -- school age kids would be doing holiday stuff, college kids would be doing finals, so we figured there wouldn't be many of them.
We went on the KonTiki party cruise in St. Thomas, which was a BLAST. Really, really fun. Well worth the money. We also went on the forest hike and beach in Tortola, which was also good. Our guides were great, very fun. It had rained, and it was foggy, so we couldn't see as much as I would have liked on the hike part, but the beach was gorgeous and the water was warm, the sun was shining, it was wonderful.
We just wandered around in Nassau and bought a few souvenirs and took a few pictures. While the prices on things were good, I wasn't looking for jewelry and we have outlet malls nearby where I can get perfume as cheap, if not cheaper, than I've ever found at any of the duty free places.
We spent about what I figured, which was a little more than the $60/day, but I got a facial and some other stuff, played bingo (a lot!), bought souvenirs, and we got the 4 bottle wine package and had drinks every day (not a lot, but more than my normal wine with dinner, and my husband had a few beers, so it adds up).
I didn't get seasick, except a little later in the evening the one really rough day. My husband NEVER gets seasick, or motion sickness of any kind. I rarely do, but it was pretty rough and once the sun goes down I lose the horizon and that's when it affects me.
But it was worth it. Every penny. I'd go again, no question. I think I'd want to try a different ship -- just because I don't like to do exactly the same vacation every time, not because I didn't like the ship.