We thoroughly enjoyed our week on the Eastern Cruise. There was a group of 10 of us, ages 19-60 somethings. We all had such a great time.
We arrived at the port around 10:30 and got #4 for boarding. So nice not to have to wait in line at the port anymore. We were onboard, eating lunch at Parrot Cay by 12:00. We just hung around there until our rooms were ready at 1:30. We all had cabins on deck 2, outside. All our rooms were great. Suda was our cabin steward. She was fantastic. She is from Thailand. Every morning and afternoon she would speak to us, ask about our day, always smiling and happy. Our daughter aged 19 slept in different rooms throughout the week. SOmetimes she stayed with my husband and I, sometimes her sister, sometimes her grandparents. Suda just asked where she was going to spend the night and would have her bed made up for her.
Our dinner rotation was APL. Dinner at 8:00 every night. That was a great time. Our servers were Noemi from Hungary, assistant server was Ana from Peru, and head server was Adrian from England. They were all wonderful and we had such a great time with them all week. Noemi was especially fantastic. She was very knowledgeable, no excellent speech all week which was nice. During character breakfast morning, there was no french toast on the menu. She heard me say something to my husband about that and the next thing I know she had gone to Lumeire's and gotten me a plate of french toast. I didn't even know that she had heard me say anthing. She said french toast was her favorite as well. It was a great touch!
During our embarkation lunch at Parrot Cay, Adrian noticed that our daughter Ashley, (19) had some macaroni and cheese. He asked us where we were starting our rotation and what table number we had. He told us that he would be head server at our section. He was kidding Ashley about her mac and cheese and wanted to know if she liked it. Well, when we went to dinner, there was a plate of mac and cheese waiting for her. Actually, he arranged for her to have mac and cheese delivered as an appetizer evry night. It was pretty funny. She ate it every night, but I don't think she will have any at college for awhile. He teased her all week and they gave each other a hard time every night at dinner. Usually, we never see the head server, but this cruise was certainly different.
We thought the food was very good. The menus are about the same as the previous cruises, but we noticed that everything was always hot this time. My mom's steak/beef came out too done a couple of times and Noemi insisted it be changed and within a minute or two, a fresh plate, done just right was delivered. The desserts were great and everyone tried all kinds of new things.
Went to Palo for brunch - well some of us did. I got sick on that day, had to go to the medical center. They were so nice there and gave me just what I needed to feel better quickly. I only missed one day of the cruise. I woke up with a very sore throat, terrible cough, but they fixed me quickly. They even called the next morning to make sure I was feeling better. No restrictions were given to me.
Back to Palo brunch - everyone in our party loved it. They said there was so much food and the service was great. We made reservations once we were on board. They even offered us an evening dinner at Palo, but no one wanted to give up a night in the dining room so we declined.
We loved the sea days on board. The seas were like glass the whole week, except for Friday, but even then,not too bad. The temps were warm and it was beautiful weather. We didn't even feel the gulf stream like usual. It was the best cruise we have ever had weatherwise. Although the deck was crowded on sea days, we preferred sitting in the shade, so no trouble finding chairs. The food on deck 9 is pretty good. They have added sandwiches and pannini's at Goofy's Galley, next to scoops. The drink station is wonderful!
St. Maartin. I had been several times before, not my favorite place so I just stayed on the ship. The erst of the family went out shopping for awhile, but they were back before too long. We enjoyed the empty ship and had lunch in one of the dining rooms.
St. Thomas - went to Sapphire beach. Thanks for those who suggested this! We had been to Megan's Bay before, but loved this so much more. It wasn't nearly as crowded. The view is wonderful, the water was fantastic. They had a little shop there to get snacks and drinks. They also had somewhere to get hamburgers and hot dogs, but the hamburgers were $11 and the hot dogs $8. We just stuck to snacks. We just ook a taxi, $10pp and asked our driver to come back for us at an arranged time. He was back on time. His name was Elvis! Would definately go to Sapphire beach again, it was wonderful, lots of shade $5 to rent a chair for the day, no deposit like at Megan's Beach. No one tried to sell us anything, just a pleasant day at the beach. We stayed about 3 hours.
Castaway Cay - the weather was not the best, in the morning it had rained and was cloudy and very windy. We went to the adult beach, but it was so windy and the sun wasn't really out very much in the morning. We had lunch there and it was great. The lunch tables were out of the wind and most of us got t-bone steaks. They were so good. We decided to go back on the ship after lunch. Of course the sun came out for the afternoon, but the wind was still very strong. We enjoyed the view of the island from deck 9 out of the wind.
The only real disappointment this week was the entertainment. With so many repeat cruisers, they need to change more often. There were many audio difficulties in the Walt Disney Theater for the main shows. Mics didn't seem to be working or were turned on too late, lots of feedback. I wonder if there was a new crew this time. One show, they even had the mics turned on when people were backstage and you could hear their conversations. Even they were complaining about the sound! We were disappointed in Twice Charmed. Disney Dreams was good, but 8 times is enough. They even had the same comedians as our previous cruises. Rich Purpura is funny, but he had no new material. He did the exact jokes as before. We missed the Charles Marshall band. High Frequency was on, they were ok, but not as good as Charles Marshall.
Pirate Night was fun in the dining room, but I thought the show wasn't that great. I enjoyed it more when they used to have Tropical Deck party. Iliked the music better. The fireworks were great.
We had a great cruise and can't wait to do it again. Our oldest daughter and son-in-law had done the Mariner of the Seas two years ago for their honeymoon and loved this cruise so much better. They said the food was better, the atmosphere of the ship better and the choices of food all over the ship was better. They had a great time.
We just can't believe it is over already. The times just goes too fast. If I think of anything else to add, I will.
We arrived at the port around 10:30 and got #4 for boarding. So nice not to have to wait in line at the port anymore. We were onboard, eating lunch at Parrot Cay by 12:00. We just hung around there until our rooms were ready at 1:30. We all had cabins on deck 2, outside. All our rooms were great. Suda was our cabin steward. She was fantastic. She is from Thailand. Every morning and afternoon she would speak to us, ask about our day, always smiling and happy. Our daughter aged 19 slept in different rooms throughout the week. SOmetimes she stayed with my husband and I, sometimes her sister, sometimes her grandparents. Suda just asked where she was going to spend the night and would have her bed made up for her.
Our dinner rotation was APL. Dinner at 8:00 every night. That was a great time. Our servers were Noemi from Hungary, assistant server was Ana from Peru, and head server was Adrian from England. They were all wonderful and we had such a great time with them all week. Noemi was especially fantastic. She was very knowledgeable, no excellent speech all week which was nice. During character breakfast morning, there was no french toast on the menu. She heard me say something to my husband about that and the next thing I know she had gone to Lumeire's and gotten me a plate of french toast. I didn't even know that she had heard me say anthing. She said french toast was her favorite as well. It was a great touch!
During our embarkation lunch at Parrot Cay, Adrian noticed that our daughter Ashley, (19) had some macaroni and cheese. He asked us where we were starting our rotation and what table number we had. He told us that he would be head server at our section. He was kidding Ashley about her mac and cheese and wanted to know if she liked it. Well, when we went to dinner, there was a plate of mac and cheese waiting for her. Actually, he arranged for her to have mac and cheese delivered as an appetizer evry night. It was pretty funny. She ate it every night, but I don't think she will have any at college for awhile. He teased her all week and they gave each other a hard time every night at dinner. Usually, we never see the head server, but this cruise was certainly different.
We thought the food was very good. The menus are about the same as the previous cruises, but we noticed that everything was always hot this time. My mom's steak/beef came out too done a couple of times and Noemi insisted it be changed and within a minute or two, a fresh plate, done just right was delivered. The desserts were great and everyone tried all kinds of new things.
Went to Palo for brunch - well some of us did. I got sick on that day, had to go to the medical center. They were so nice there and gave me just what I needed to feel better quickly. I only missed one day of the cruise. I woke up with a very sore throat, terrible cough, but they fixed me quickly. They even called the next morning to make sure I was feeling better. No restrictions were given to me.
Back to Palo brunch - everyone in our party loved it. They said there was so much food and the service was great. We made reservations once we were on board. They even offered us an evening dinner at Palo, but no one wanted to give up a night in the dining room so we declined.
We loved the sea days on board. The seas were like glass the whole week, except for Friday, but even then,not too bad. The temps were warm and it was beautiful weather. We didn't even feel the gulf stream like usual. It was the best cruise we have ever had weatherwise. Although the deck was crowded on sea days, we preferred sitting in the shade, so no trouble finding chairs. The food on deck 9 is pretty good. They have added sandwiches and pannini's at Goofy's Galley, next to scoops. The drink station is wonderful!
St. Maartin. I had been several times before, not my favorite place so I just stayed on the ship. The erst of the family went out shopping for awhile, but they were back before too long. We enjoyed the empty ship and had lunch in one of the dining rooms.
St. Thomas - went to Sapphire beach. Thanks for those who suggested this! We had been to Megan's Bay before, but loved this so much more. It wasn't nearly as crowded. The view is wonderful, the water was fantastic. They had a little shop there to get snacks and drinks. They also had somewhere to get hamburgers and hot dogs, but the hamburgers were $11 and the hot dogs $8. We just stuck to snacks. We just ook a taxi, $10pp and asked our driver to come back for us at an arranged time. He was back on time. His name was Elvis! Would definately go to Sapphire beach again, it was wonderful, lots of shade $5 to rent a chair for the day, no deposit like at Megan's Beach. No one tried to sell us anything, just a pleasant day at the beach. We stayed about 3 hours.
Castaway Cay - the weather was not the best, in the morning it had rained and was cloudy and very windy. We went to the adult beach, but it was so windy and the sun wasn't really out very much in the morning. We had lunch there and it was great. The lunch tables were out of the wind and most of us got t-bone steaks. They were so good. We decided to go back on the ship after lunch. Of course the sun came out for the afternoon, but the wind was still very strong. We enjoyed the view of the island from deck 9 out of the wind.
The only real disappointment this week was the entertainment. With so many repeat cruisers, they need to change more often. There were many audio difficulties in the Walt Disney Theater for the main shows. Mics didn't seem to be working or were turned on too late, lots of feedback. I wonder if there was a new crew this time. One show, they even had the mics turned on when people were backstage and you could hear their conversations. Even they were complaining about the sound! We were disappointed in Twice Charmed. Disney Dreams was good, but 8 times is enough. They even had the same comedians as our previous cruises. Rich Purpura is funny, but he had no new material. He did the exact jokes as before. We missed the Charles Marshall band. High Frequency was on, they were ok, but not as good as Charles Marshall.
Pirate Night was fun in the dining room, but I thought the show wasn't that great. I enjoyed it more when they used to have Tropical Deck party. Iliked the music better. The fireworks were great.
We had a great cruise and can't wait to do it again. Our oldest daughter and son-in-law had done the Mariner of the Seas two years ago for their honeymoon and loved this cruise so much better. They said the food was better, the atmosphere of the ship better and the choices of food all over the ship was better. They had a great time.
We just can't believe it is over already. The times just goes too fast. If I think of anything else to add, I will.
