Lisa F
is a very wise woman
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2000
- Messages
- 11,129
I don't really have time for a full trip report so I figured I'd just post some highlights/observations and tips.
1) One definate highlight was our server team. We had Adrian as our server with Joyce as the assistant and John as the head and what a fabulous team they were! The first night Adrian asked if we trusted him on dessert and we did and he brought one of each (oink!) The next night we ordered dessert and he had already correctly guessed all of the desserts we would order and had them there already! The next night I told him that he had done so well, he could just order my whole meal for me. The rest of the table quickly followed suit and it became a big joke that Adrian would give us the menus and then immediately take them away.
I have to tell you, if you have a great waiter and if you are not particularly fussy about food, this is the way to go. I remember some meals being mediocre on my last cruise but this time everything was wonderful. Those guys really know what's good and what's not and you can't really go wrong this way! It was so luxurious to not have to make any decisions, but it was so hard to order ourselves at Palo on our last night without Adrian to do it for us!
2) We upgraded at the port to a cat 6 and LOVED the verandah. I wouldn't go as far as to say that we could never go back again because I did actually miss our long walks around the deck at night but it was equally lovely to order cheese and crackers and have a snack on the verandah.
3) the famed LOBSTER was there at the adult beach lunch area. It amazes me how this little bbq spot does not appear in any official DCL literature!
4) I got a cold on my third day and although it did put a bit of a damper on things, I still had a good time (just slept a lot, which wasn't a problem with the extra sea day since we missed grand cayman). Because of this we decided not to snorkel in Cozumel as we had originally planned to but take the Atlantis sub excursion instead.
You take a cab over there and that was a near disaster. I didn't quite understand what the guide was saying but something about the union there was causing a snag in cabs and the line was HUGE. We ended up waiting about a half hour for a cab to get there. During this time some people on line became the ugly American, yelling and becoming quite irate at the guides who didn't seem like they could do anything but offer refunds and take down the cabin numbers. Note that not everyone who asked for a refund was ugly about it, there were many who just could not for whatever reason stand there and wait for a cab for who knew how long, but the ones who got ugly made me feel embarassed to be an american.
The excursion was expensive, $75, and I did not feel like it was worth it. After taking it I wish that we had asked for a refund and skipped it as well. There wasn't a whole lot to see down there for whatever reason (strong currents I'm guessing, but what do I know about such things?). The people who work for Altantis are very nice, however and there did appear to be some families on the sub who had a great time just being in a sub and seeing a few fish and the reef. For us, though, it felt like a big waste of money and was the most disappointing part of the trip.
Overall we had a GREAT time. My favorite port was Key West as there is lots of historic architecture to see there and I would LOVE to go back (it's kind of hard to see much when you get there at 12:30 and everything closes at 5). Slightly disappointed to miss Grand Cayman but we ran into some people who could do nothing but complain about that fact and why we didn't try harder to get there so it made us realize just how ridiculous we would sound to complain about it. I guess we will just have to take another western cruise!
Lisa
1) One definate highlight was our server team. We had Adrian as our server with Joyce as the assistant and John as the head and what a fabulous team they were! The first night Adrian asked if we trusted him on dessert and we did and he brought one of each (oink!) The next night we ordered dessert and he had already correctly guessed all of the desserts we would order and had them there already! The next night I told him that he had done so well, he could just order my whole meal for me. The rest of the table quickly followed suit and it became a big joke that Adrian would give us the menus and then immediately take them away.
I have to tell you, if you have a great waiter and if you are not particularly fussy about food, this is the way to go. I remember some meals being mediocre on my last cruise but this time everything was wonderful. Those guys really know what's good and what's not and you can't really go wrong this way! It was so luxurious to not have to make any decisions, but it was so hard to order ourselves at Palo on our last night without Adrian to do it for us!
2) We upgraded at the port to a cat 6 and LOVED the verandah. I wouldn't go as far as to say that we could never go back again because I did actually miss our long walks around the deck at night but it was equally lovely to order cheese and crackers and have a snack on the verandah.
3) the famed LOBSTER was there at the adult beach lunch area. It amazes me how this little bbq spot does not appear in any official DCL literature!
4) I got a cold on my third day and although it did put a bit of a damper on things, I still had a good time (just slept a lot, which wasn't a problem with the extra sea day since we missed grand cayman). Because of this we decided not to snorkel in Cozumel as we had originally planned to but take the Atlantis sub excursion instead.
You take a cab over there and that was a near disaster. I didn't quite understand what the guide was saying but something about the union there was causing a snag in cabs and the line was HUGE. We ended up waiting about a half hour for a cab to get there. During this time some people on line became the ugly American, yelling and becoming quite irate at the guides who didn't seem like they could do anything but offer refunds and take down the cabin numbers. Note that not everyone who asked for a refund was ugly about it, there were many who just could not for whatever reason stand there and wait for a cab for who knew how long, but the ones who got ugly made me feel embarassed to be an american.
The excursion was expensive, $75, and I did not feel like it was worth it. After taking it I wish that we had asked for a refund and skipped it as well. There wasn't a whole lot to see down there for whatever reason (strong currents I'm guessing, but what do I know about such things?). The people who work for Altantis are very nice, however and there did appear to be some families on the sub who had a great time just being in a sub and seeing a few fish and the reef. For us, though, it felt like a big waste of money and was the most disappointing part of the trip.
Overall we had a GREAT time. My favorite port was Key West as there is lots of historic architecture to see there and I would LOVE to go back (it's kind of hard to see much when you get there at 12:30 and everything closes at 5). Slightly disappointed to miss Grand Cayman but we ran into some people who could do nothing but complain about that fact and why we didn't try harder to get there so it made us realize just how ridiculous we would sound to complain about it. I guess we will just have to take another western cruise!
Lisa
). We also found some of the family oriented activities fun as well, so we definately kept busy. If you have any other questions or would like more specifics, just let me know! 
But I'll be close)
How did he do that?
