alisaocean1213
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2022
This was our first cruise and we have lots of mixed feelings. It was three of us with a four year old. The seas were super smooth so we got extra time on CC.
The ship: Our cruise was sold out but it never really felt crowded. Pools were packed on sea days though. Ship is clean and perfect size with great layout.
Kids clubs: we dropped off 4 year old to Oceaneers Lab and she did not want to go back. Basically she was overwhelmed with older kids. There were 200 kids in there. They told us that side is always super crowded since they have video games. However she liked Oceaneers Club. There were more kids her age and around 50 of them. So I would suggest starting with Club so the kid doesn’t freak out and refuse them at all as they are very similar when you enter.
Food: Food was not good. Maybe our expectations were too high. I watched bunch of vlogs with people raving about food but it was just ok. We were on Holland America cruise to Alaska last year and food was at the same level which was disappointing given the 4x price difference. Many times it was either undercooked or overcooked and overly salty. We had much better food is at WDW parks. We also did Remy brunch and dinner on day 2 and 3. Brunch was much better. The food was better and the price was right. Basically for dinner they serve pretty much same things but in different variations. We spend 1000$ total for both. We had better lamb in rotation dining. The food is not even close to one star Michelin restaurant in our area. So just set your expectations straight given the price you pay. But definitely recommend brunch over dinner; it’s worth it.
Room service: The first two days for some reason we did not get room service turnaround in afternoon. We did not get any room service for 3 days but more on that later.
Service in general: We had amazing service on Holland America and Disney matched that but did not exceed it.
Entertainment: This was amazing. Lots of things to do. Loved Alladin and 25th anniversary party. Did not attend pirate night (more on this later).
Port days: Did transfer to JVD. It was really nice. Spent couple of hours there. Beautiful beach and great weather.
Castaway Cay: We were able to enjoy this for half a day. This island was kind of a let down. The beach water was murky with trash (plastic trash and stuff everywhere in the sand in the water (not on beach itself). Super crowded and just meh. People are getting too aggressive with chairs. JVD is so much more amazing if you are looking for a nice beach.
So on day 4 once we’re back from JVD my daughter started vomiting. She could not keep food or water down for the rest of the day. We were concerned so took her to Medical Center. After $500 bill and Zofran off we go to isolation. Initially they placed us on 24 hr isolation which means we missed port day in St Thomas and pirate night. But my daughter started running high fever so isolation got extended another day. She got cleared for CC, but I noticed half way that she is not feeling well again, so off to the room we go with vomiting again (Zofran was out and wore off I guess). So we basically missed half the cruise. I later found out that many were sick. Especially towards the end of the cruise. Saw kids in tears with bad stomach ache. Once you put in isolation they are very strict enforcing it. They do not offer any future cruise discounts. The doctor said it always happens around day 3 and they expect it. He mentioned to stay away from pools next time as it’s the fastest and easiest way to get it. We also left ship very late. I left something in the cabin and ran to get it. The guy in there was just doing normal cleaning. I feel bad for whoever is in that cabin next as there is no way to kill the virus with normal cleaning given vomit was on carpet and couch everywhere (which was mentioned to them. My 4 year old does not give any heads up
).
So overall, the first 3 days were great (except food). We paid 10k for this sailing and I’m pretty sure we are done cause I’m not willing to take another 10k gamble of being locked up in cabin for 4 days. There is absolutely no way the cost we paid is worth it.
The ship: Our cruise was sold out but it never really felt crowded. Pools were packed on sea days though. Ship is clean and perfect size with great layout.
Kids clubs: we dropped off 4 year old to Oceaneers Lab and she did not want to go back. Basically she was overwhelmed with older kids. There were 200 kids in there. They told us that side is always super crowded since they have video games. However she liked Oceaneers Club. There were more kids her age and around 50 of them. So I would suggest starting with Club so the kid doesn’t freak out and refuse them at all as they are very similar when you enter.
Food: Food was not good. Maybe our expectations were too high. I watched bunch of vlogs with people raving about food but it was just ok. We were on Holland America cruise to Alaska last year and food was at the same level which was disappointing given the 4x price difference. Many times it was either undercooked or overcooked and overly salty. We had much better food is at WDW parks. We also did Remy brunch and dinner on day 2 and 3. Brunch was much better. The food was better and the price was right. Basically for dinner they serve pretty much same things but in different variations. We spend 1000$ total for both. We had better lamb in rotation dining. The food is not even close to one star Michelin restaurant in our area. So just set your expectations straight given the price you pay. But definitely recommend brunch over dinner; it’s worth it.
Room service: The first two days for some reason we did not get room service turnaround in afternoon. We did not get any room service for 3 days but more on that later.
Service in general: We had amazing service on Holland America and Disney matched that but did not exceed it.
Entertainment: This was amazing. Lots of things to do. Loved Alladin and 25th anniversary party. Did not attend pirate night (more on this later).
Port days: Did transfer to JVD. It was really nice. Spent couple of hours there. Beautiful beach and great weather.
Castaway Cay: We were able to enjoy this for half a day. This island was kind of a let down. The beach water was murky with trash (plastic trash and stuff everywhere in the sand in the water (not on beach itself). Super crowded and just meh. People are getting too aggressive with chairs. JVD is so much more amazing if you are looking for a nice beach.
So on day 4 once we’re back from JVD my daughter started vomiting. She could not keep food or water down for the rest of the day. We were concerned so took her to Medical Center. After $500 bill and Zofran off we go to isolation. Initially they placed us on 24 hr isolation which means we missed port day in St Thomas and pirate night. But my daughter started running high fever so isolation got extended another day. She got cleared for CC, but I noticed half way that she is not feeling well again, so off to the room we go with vomiting again (Zofran was out and wore off I guess). So we basically missed half the cruise. I later found out that many were sick. Especially towards the end of the cruise. Saw kids in tears with bad stomach ache. Once you put in isolation they are very strict enforcing it. They do not offer any future cruise discounts. The doctor said it always happens around day 3 and they expect it. He mentioned to stay away from pools next time as it’s the fastest and easiest way to get it. We also left ship very late. I left something in the cabin and ran to get it. The guy in there was just doing normal cleaning. I feel bad for whoever is in that cabin next as there is no way to kill the virus with normal cleaning given vomit was on carpet and couch everywhere (which was mentioned to them. My 4 year old does not give any heads up
).So overall, the first 3 days were great (except food). We paid 10k for this sailing and I’m pretty sure we are done cause I’m not willing to take another 10k gamble of being locked up in cabin for 4 days. There is absolutely no way the cost we paid is worth it.
