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goincruisin
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| Joined: | Fri Jun 16th, 2006 |
| Location: | Raleigh, NC |
| Posts: | 3685 |
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Posted: Sat Jun 17th, 2006 08:11 am | 1st Post |
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Got off the plane Friday morning at 9:45, we had round trip transfers for our group... headed to the transfers desk, very easy, no hassle (I will take this route next time, it really helped alleviate the pains of getting a taxi, dealing with luggage, etc). We boarded the bus, and were at the port by 11AM. The porters there took the luggage directly from the bus, so no fuss! There was no line, so we were on the ship by 11:45. First thing I noticed upon boarding, was everyone walking around with "blinkie" glasses, so of course I had to have one  Then it was off to the pool deck bar for cocktails. It soon started to rain, so we headed into the Windjammer for lunch. They had quite a selection, but nothing that was really jumping out at me, so I just picked while others in the group ate. The one thing I noticed in here was that we were approached and asked every 2 minutes by someone trying to sell us drinks. I can understand this on the pool deck, but not while I am sitting down in the restaurant trying to eat. This would become a trend, the one area I really feel they should address. I understand the need to sell drinks, but when it borders on harassment, it's a bit much. The drinks seemed to be much higher priced than Carnival, partly because everything seemed to come in a specialty glass... $8.95 for the specialty glass, no discounts on refills like on Carnival. I never noticed a "drink of the day" or any specials.
We headed to our cabins and WOW... VERY small!!!! There were 3 of us in an Oceanview cabin, and I knew right away it was going to be VERY tight... I didn't know how tight until the luggage arrived! We weren't about to unpack for such a short cruise, so we just maneuvered around the luggage, and put a piece in the closet to help with space. The bathroom, you could do everything you needed to do from one spot in there. I even dressed in the shower Very small. Everyone told me they were smaller than Carnival, but I just didn't imagine they would be that small. We dealt with it, and were not in the cabin very much. Our cabin steward and assistant were great. They were very friendly and accomodating. Our bathroom was pretty dingy (a good deal of rust) but we saw other cabins where this was not the case, so it seemed to be an isolated thing. We also had a cabin that was all the way forward, NOT a good location considering the weather we were having!!! I've never really felt rocking in the cabin, but it was so pronounced in this cabin. It was also the first cabin I have had that far forward, lesson learned.
We headed back to the pool deck, met up with some of the group for cocktails. It was a little chilly and windy, but we managed to have a good time  Once they shut the bar down, we realized it was muster time. There was someone in our group that was a single, and there were 3 of us in our quad... and since we had plenty of drinks at this time, we figured it would be okay for him to just come with us to muster (lots of drinks led us to this brilliant decision), long story short... he ended up at his muster, and we were at ours. In his muster, they kept telling him they would be off last if there was an emergency... I think he was suddenly wishing to be back in our station, we would be off first The muster was painless, they got us in and out of there quick.
We dropped our vests off in the cabin, and headed up for sailaway... it was VERY windy and chilly, so we needed more cocktails!!! We had early seating, due to the size of our group and I won't do this again. We are used to late seating (I'm not even home from the office by 6 or 7 much less thinking of eating at this time!!), so we went the first night, but that was it. The food was good. I had a steak with a butter sauce, it was good. The scallops and risotto was great, as was the chocolate and pear cake. Again with the people coming around with trays of drinks, all through dinner trying to sell us drinks!! What happened to people just taking your drink order and moving on?? Our wait team was great and very attentive. The "show" in the dining room was rather quick and painless...
This night was very windy up on deck... there were about 60 little drink umbrellas flying all over the pool deck, which I must say, was entertaining  We hit the casino for a little while (not to gamble, but someone in our group wanted a drink from every bar on the ship Friday, so this was one of the ones we were missing.. yes, we accomplished his goal!) We also went to the "name that 70's tune" game, it was okay. We were really excited about the "Disco Inferno" night in the disco, however, we heard no disco. Although that didn't keep us from dancing until the wee hours!!! Some girl came in wearing a bikini, a little tacky... but she wasn't tossed for that, she was tossed for her "activities" she was doing with one of her dance floors a little later in the evening!! Again, this evening you could buy a shot or drink in every sort of glass you could imagine. My purse has a permanent glow!! We decided to explore the ship once the disco closed, too many of those shots in every glass you could imagine, led to us getting lost. We just wanted something to eat!! So we called room service, from outside the elevators on Deck 10, but surprise surprise, they wouldn't deliver there, so we had to beat the clock to make it back to the cabin before room service did!! We made it, just barely!! LOL
The next morning we had the first of 2 group conferences. The meeting facilities were standard, nice.. they provided coffee, juice and danishes. Considering we had just gone to be 2 hours before the meeting, I needed that coffee! It wasn't bad coffee either!!! I would have drank hemlock that morning if it would have helped though... Our meeting ended around 11, and since we were an hour or so late getting into Nassau, I got a quick nap in, in the closet that was our cabin. I slept in the top bunk, have a knot on my head to prove it!!! Then it was back to the pool deck, for a few mango tangos (yum!! yum!! yum!!!!!) and lunch. The lunch in the Windjammer seemed to be the same each day. I actually had the guy cut me some pork roast, but didn't notice until I sat down, that one slice was nothing but fat (no meat, none... and when you are hungover, this is the last thing you want to see! LOL) Nothing was looking good so we decided on pizza... the pizza really isn't good on this ship. I ate 3 bites, it tasted like it was frozen pizza, and even then, not the best frozen pizza I have had. We waited until 3 for Johnny Rockets to open and decided to have lunch there. Had lunch (which was good) and then headed off into Nassau. We were just going to walk around, and then head back to the ship for dinner and head to Senor Frogs that evening. Well, we happened upon Senor Frogs and decided to go in and see what was going on. This was 4PM. Well, after a first downs worth of yards, we were feeling better. Many from our group showed up, and the head guy at SF was the same we had met at SF in Grand Cayman, so we decided to join in on the fun. MANY conga lines later, and we were not ready to head back to the ship. We had SO much fun here!! One of the best SF's I have been to for sure!!!! What a blast! I'd tell you more, but... let's just say that long island iced teas served by the yard, is not very good for the memory. I know we entered alot of contests, which involved alot of shots, and jello!!! It was a blast!!!!!!!! Headed back to the ship around 11'ish. I decided it should be an early night for me (okay, I didn't decide this really, but I really needed to just go to bed!!!)
The next morning we had our final meeting. Lots of red eyes in this one!! This meeting was interrupted by MANY announcements from the CD and Captain. The Captain informed us that we would be missing Coco Cay due to the poor weather (this ship rocked from the minute we set sail, apparently we followed some frontal system around, but it was windy and choppy the whole time). Many in our group were upset to miss CocoCay, but I actually liked having a sea day... until it started raining!!! It rained on and off a few times, the band played for about 30 minutes, but the band wasn't that great and I wasn't upset to see them go. We relaxed by the pool during the moments it wasn't raining. Then it was time for the belly flop contest... after several drinks, I urged my father to sign up (okay, I actually went and told them he wanted to... it was my daughterly duty!!!) It was a lot of fun to watch, and I'll say, beats the hairy chest contest on any day! Dad walked away with a silver medal, a RCL hat and a free drink... so he wasn't too upset. Nothing the chiropractor couldn't fix when he returned home
We decided to skip dinner in the dining room, just can't see getting ready that early!!!! We ended up in Boleros and sat through the Quest, and Karaoke. It was entertaining, but probably not in the way it was intended to be entertaining!! Apparently, this evening, a crowd had gathered by the pursers desk, many crying, thinking we were dying. The seas were rough, and the ship was rocking pretty good, but some people were being WAY dramatic!!! Yes, there were barf bags at every turn. We tried to go to the Viking Crown lounge, but it was SO bad up there. Decided to get some packing done, and for the rest of the evening, we just relaxed, and finished it off at Johnny Rockets. This time, I really enjoyed it! But it was a little difficult to eat, as bad as we were rocking. Decided just to call it a cruise, and head off to bed.
We didn't get off the ship until 10:30, but enjoyed the time with friends. Found our bags very easily, and headed to the shuttle. Embarkation and debarkation on this cruise was one of the best I have experienced.
The service on the ship was really good, although the staff was not as "happy" as I am used to, especially the bar staff. Didn't affect me either way. I didn't care for the "tween deck" on this ship... it only served to confuse me!!! I don't know what it was about this ship that got me so lost!!! The casino on this ship does offer a non smoking section! I thought that was a very nice touch!! Ventilation in the casino seemed adequate as well.
I would like to try a longer cruise, newer ship on RCL before I weigh in on my final assessment. Being that this was also a business function, that might have had something to do with it. There were some things that I really missed from Carnival, but couldn't tell you if that is fleet wide, or just the result of being on a very short cruise. We all had a blast! Weather could have been better, but that is out of everyone's control. The only things I would truly give a thumbs down on would be the pushing of drinks (I truly thought this was irritating on Carnival, but NOTHING like this!!!) and the pizza (this truly wasn't good pizza, and I'm not a picky person at all!!!) I wish we could have gone to CocoCay as well, but the winds were at 40MPH, and I'm glad they didn't risk it!
All in all, I had a great time. Have I been converted? No... not even close. Then again, I have been on several Carnival cruises, ranging from 4-7 days, so I have alot more experience with Carnival, and sometimes it is all in what you are used to. I would try RCL again, but only on a longer cruise with a newer ship. It was not a bad cruise by any means, obviously, I had a wonderful time!! The differences, in the grand scheme of things, were not all that different.
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Destiny B2B 10/30 & 11/3/08
Splendor 4/26/09
Legend 10/18/09
Dream 4/24/10
"Because change is not a destination, just as hope is not a strategy" -Rudy Giuliani
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