VOS 7/16 Review...What a cruise!

Where to begin?

I must extent a heartfelt THANK YOU to all of the people from these boards that provided me with information about the ship, the ports of call, etc...all of which proved to be valuable and essential.

I started off the 16th in a huff...had to run some errands in the morning and they took me longer then I had planned. We finally headed for the ship at around 1:30. Im about a 20 minute trip from Bayonne...no traffic to speak of, but the directions from RCCL were a little off...the last street name was incorrect. No biggie...I turned where my instincts told me to, and I ended up where I needed to be.

Boarding....unloaded the car and left our luggage with one of the porters. Waited on the first check in line. Someone came with me and drove the car home, so no parking was needed. Took maybe 10 minutes. Got my carry on though the screening...had my fingers crossed that the platinum engagement ring in my bag wouldnt set off the metal detectors. Luckily...it didnt. On to the next line...set up the sea pass card and present tickets, etc...maybe another 10 minutes if that. They have it broken up by deck...which was good. On to a bus, a 2 minute ride, then a 2 minute line, and ON THE SHIP! All total....maybe 40 minutes and we were on the ship!

Ports...Labadee...ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!!! The scenery there was better then any of the other ports on this itinerary. Hideaway beach was worth the walk. The island is HUGE....much bigger then the Princess or Norwegian private islands...and MUCH BETTER! Jamaica...disappointed in overall standard of living. I knew that it was a depressed region going in to this though. Climbed Dunn's River. Great experience that I highly recommend. Grand Cayman...been here before. I LOVE this port. 7 mile beach for snorkeling...tons of fish, a run in with a barracuda. A great day all and all. Almost missed the last tender we had such a great time. Freeport...a bit disappointing. The port is industrial and the scenery there isnt much better then Bayonne. Took a cab to Port Lucaya beach. Beach was free and nice but this was my least favorite of the ports. Im a bigger fan of Nassua.

Dining... I've noticed that RCCL gets an undeserved bad rap for their food quality. The food in the dining room was very good...we had lunch in Johnny Rockets 4 or 5 times. Food was good there too. Im not a fan of the buffets on cruise ships in general so not much to offer there. The fact that pizza/sandwiches/snacks were available in the Promenade Cafe 24 hours was GREAT. Portofino's was good, but it's hard to impress me when it comes to italian food.

Service...Our waiter was SPECTACULAR. He learned our preferences after the first night and never left us asking for the staples (bread, water, etc). He even kept tabs of everyone's food preferences and dislikes. I was very impressed. This was our first experience with a set dining time and I was very happy with it. Our Assistant Waiter was also very good. Room Steward was average. I have had better service there. The staff everywhere else? Bartenders...GREAT! The cruise director and assistant cruise director were the best of any of the cruise lines I have been on. Top notch.

Entertainment...Dont miss the ice show. I hate ice skating and I left the show very impressed. The parades through the promenade were a nice touch. Caught a comedian/magician....not a bad show. Karaoke was a lot of fun too. Bingo...fun but I didnt win. $19,000.00 jackpot on the last day would have been nice. Casino...I incurred more losses there...but its huge and has everything you would want. Of the casinos I've seen on ships, it maintains the best casino "atmoshpere".

Overall...An absolutely awesome trip...during which I asked the girl of my dreams to marry me...to which she replied "yes"...Whats not to like?

Congratulations on your engagement..............much happiness to you both!

Happy you enjoyed the cruise too! Your review seemed very balanced based on past visits to some of the locations you mentioned, as well as having sailed out of Bayonee in May on the Nordic Empress.

thanks for the nice review, and Congratulations on "catching" the girl of your dreams. Another cruise for a honeymoon, perhaps?

Maybe...she's got her heart set on Hawaii...

...what the best cruise to pitch to her for that? (Can you tell this has become my preferred method of travel? ;) )

Edit to add...thank you for the above sentiment :)

Congratulations :) :) Sounds like you both had a wonderful time!! Thanks for your review.

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Thanks for the review. Just a few more days for us!!!

Congratulations on your engagement! What a great review, it sounds like you had a wonderful cruise.

If you fiance wants to go to Hawaii I would recommend the Serenade of the Seas. The ship is spectacular!! I've been on 10 of RCCL's ships, and the Serenade ranks very high in beauty, design and service.

Congratualtions on your engagement.

Somewhere I imagine our paths crossed on the ship...we too had a great time!

What a fabulous way to celebrate your engagement! We were on the same cruise and had a great time. The ship was beautiful and easy to navigate. We upgraded at the pier to a Jr Suite. It was plenty big and had tons of storage.The shows were very elaborate, especially the ice show. Don't miss the evening games:Love & Marriage, Battle of the Sexes, Quest- all loads of fun. We thought the food was a little uneven- appetizers, soups and desserts were excellent, entrees were only fair(steaks were tough). The Windjammer had plenty of choices to satisfy any taste. My biggest complaint was believe it or not- the towel situation. The policy is if a towel is not returned there's a $20/per towel. There was a towel exchange station at the pool- some of the attendents were kind of nasty about giving you extra towels. We caught on quickly to get extras from our cabin attendent- problem solved!Don't miss the backstage tour near the end of the cruise- it was very interesting to see how they managed the sets and costume changes.

What a fabulous way to celebrate you engagement! We were on the same cruise and had a great time. The ship was gorgeous and easy to navigate. we has a jr suite which was plenty big with loads of storage.The shows were elaborate, especially the ice show. The food in the dining room was uneven. Tne appetizers, soups and desserts were great but the entrees were just fair(most of the beef was tough).The Windjammer had plenty of choices. My biggest complaint-believe it or not- was the towel situation. A $20 charge per towel if not returned.Some of the attendants at the towel station were a little crabby. We finally realized we could get extras from our cabin attendant- problem solved! Don't miss the evening game shows:Love&Marriage, Battle of the Sexes,Quest- all great fun. What a great cruise