Back from 7/16 VOS - Highlights and Info

First I must say this was a wonderful cruise for us. :)

We upgraded at the pier, which did take a little while at the Supervisors Desk, and for this 9 nite to go from a D1 Deck 8 balcony to the Beck 9 JS which we hoped for, the cost was $400.00 for both of us, so if you are thinking about doing this, that is a good benchmark of the costs that others have published. The wait for the luggage was not much longer but we were a bit nervous and went to the deck where were were originally booked and took the rest of it up to our cabin rather than wait and worry. But go for it if you want it!

We did Portofino's twice. Once with our daughters to celelbrate their birthdays and the second for an adults only with our friends we were traveling with. Issues in Portofino's I have to say. The bar service for cocktails was not bad, it was horrible. It took a good half and hour to gett the barwaiter who the waiter had sent over and then another half hour to get the drinks. On this night I had sent up the two bottles of Grgigh Hills I had taken from home for this night, so that did leave us with something to toast in the meantime and with out appetizers. Poor PR in that the waitress was very vocal in the corkage fee. This happend to others at another table several cruises ago, and I hve no issue with the fee, I undertand it, I gave no qualms about paying it. What I do mind is the indescretion and the lack of finesse in associating a cost with the uncorking at the table. Two wines I selected the first evening were "not on the ship". I did select the Rudd at $95.00 per, and since I had the same waitress for the second dinner I hosted, I think it lacked class for this venue.

Ah, but this venue compared to AOS in March is far below the standards I found previously. Less presentation, less ambiance and less lobster, which is not on this menu at all! I was so looking forward to this and I have to say I was disappointed.

The food in the dining room was based on the new menus that RCI has put into place. The food was as good as was expected for the main dining room. I saw differences in the wait staff. We had an assisatnt waiter who had 5 or 6 tables, and he worked with our waiter and another waiter. I wish wew had the other waiter. He was the dram guy who on Lobster night bring out the platter of tails and everyone gets another, the guy who brings sides of the paste of the night for everyone, eat it or not, and just the kind of person who goes the extra mile. We did not have him, or this type of service this cruise, so the wiater did not get the extra $$$ we would have gladly included simply because his service was mediocre and lacked the attention that was easy to give. While they say there are 15 bar servers in the Dining Room for drinks, good luck finding one. Then for us it was confusion bewtween him and the asst waiter. No he gets the wine, I only get the drinks....oh boy I don't care who gets what, just get me some!

As reported by others the Pool Deck Patol is in operation and it made for some interesting observations by 10:30 or so. I thought bthey were fair giving the hogs that long to get back to the chairs. Then there were hog cheerleaders when they Patrol moved their stuff with the rah-rah how dare they do that to you cheering. Holy Cow. My motto hs always been just get up early and get it if you want it and stop complaining. I gave a Deck Guy the thumbs up when he was getting beat up by some offender in my support of their efforts. Great stuff over coffee!

The ship looks good, the Champange/Martini Bar was good. The Schooner Bar was fun with the Piano Guy there who has a list of a hundred adn more songs. If you like Neil Diamond he'll do a medely which ends with Sweet Caroline (on the list) and if you are outgoing sing along and the whole bar will. If you are really outgoing ask him for Mustang Sally and dance to it. What fun there. The Ice show was good, a little long compared to the previous shows and a bit different, but good and a must see. Ciagr bar had a very bad server, again a real disappointment for what you would think is a higher end venue.

Room service was good and prompt, the Coffee Bar on the promenade has great selections for snacks, go there at 4pm if you are late seating for a pick me up coffee and a bite. The Windjammer, well, what can I say about the Windjammer that hasn't already been said both good and bad.

Getting on and off the ship was not terrible. I am 5 lbs heavier than when I started, and I would have stayed forever but for the food and the photos. No more of either. :D

Neverthe less, I'd do this one again in a minute. The two seas days right in the beginning are the best, and the 9 nite is a perfect length, you'd be suprised that the two extra days can make that kind of a difference.

Any questions ask away. I think of more to write as I go along.

P.S. marciemi I have only two Adventure Ocean daily's for you. It took me until the end of the cruise to figure out where I could get them. One of the 6-8 and one for the 9-11 since sometimes they kids like to do somethings the older grouping offers.:o

Thanks for the details.

When did you get to the pier?

Was there traffic?

How long did it take to get checked in and on the ship?

We got to the pier at about 12:30 and they began the boarding at 1:00 although the signs said 2:30 boarding, the reps passed out notices that the ship would board at 1:00, please enjoy the band in this area over here.

For us, I think since we got there at the time we did, we did wait on an well organized line for about a half hour. It took a few minutes to check in, but since we wanted the upgrade it took us about 15 minutes to wait again for that besk and then the time to get the reassignment. We were on the ship by 1:45 I'd say.

Cool thing!!! On this ship at boarding, the staff drives the elevators and takes your to your floors with their passcard that overides the elevator buttons. Express service and very, very nice for a change.

There was no real traffic to speak of, we drove ourselves and dropped off the luggage and then circled around the building again and ealily parked the car. At disembarkation we got the bags and got the car and loaded the car and easily left the terimal area. Parking for the 9 nites was $108.00 which we paid for in advance.

Thanks for the review. I'll not bother with Portofinos, since the lobster is not there. We won't starve in the main DR. Hope to get a good waiter like "Rudy" we had on the Serenade last August.

Thanks for the chair hog patrol report- Our whole CC group will be cheering them! (the staff, not the chair hogs).

Finely - thanks again. Let me know the best way to send it to me (ie email, posting it, or just regular mail!) I'm probably mostly interested in the 9-11 one. Since we booked, I haven't heard many good things about the 12-14 group that my oldest (12) should be in, and since we're traveling in mid-Sept, I'm hoping it won't be a problem to move him down to the 9-11 group with his brothers (9 & 11). So that's really the age group I'm looking for. Did whoever you had with you with kids think their kids enjoyed the program? What time did you disembark on Sun? We're driving back to Michigan that day and need to be back at school/work on Monday so I'm really hoping for a noon disembarking which would get us home at midnight vs. a 4pm disembarking which would get us home at 4am! Thank so much!

Thanks.

One more question - did they accept credit cards for the parking?

Yes they accepted credit cards for parking.

marciemi if you want to email me at cherylwood@aol.com with what ever you feel confortable with even if its a fax number I will make copies and fax to you.