Review: Rhapsody 7 day Island Hop, out of Barbados, with a toddler

[jacobtsf]

 

We just got off Rhapsody of the Seas this morning in Barbados and are currently in the air on the way home. Since there have not been many reviews of the cruises out of Barbados, and especially the Island Hop itinerary where you visit 7 islands in 7 days, I wanted to post this review. I am not an expert review poster, so this might be a little all over the place. 

 

This is mostly going to be about our experience on each island, including what we did on Barbados. Rhapsody is a small ship, without the fancy bells and whistles, but this cruise was so busy we didn’t miss any of that. We didn’t spend a lot of time doing ship activities, but I have tried to include some of what we did do. 

 

Also, yes we had the new menus, no we did not have lobster (at least not free) on Royal Night, that isn’t a complimentary item on sailing from Barbados. I have made a whole post about dinners, at the end. 

 

I’ve broken this into sections so it is hopefully easier to read and understand, and there will be a few pictures throughout as well. If you have any questions please ask. 

[jacobtsf]

WHO WE ARE/ CHOOSING THIS CRUISE

 

 

My wife and I are in our mid 30s and love cruising, especially to interesting ports. We almost exclusively cruise on Royal (we did one Carnival cruise because it gave us almost 48 hours in Cuba), and while we cruised a little pre Covid we’ve made up for lost time since the restart and took great advantage of the double points offered. 

 

Our daughter is now 3 (and a half!) and this is her third cruise. She is full of energy, and on “traditional” cruises we would normally go on an Oasis class ship (or at least Freedom) to make sure there was lots to do. However this cruise is 7 ports in 7 days, with no sea days, so we weren’t too confused about a (much) smaller ship. She loves food and music, and this ship would have both of those things. 

 

LAST MARCH we had just finished all of the planning for our summer 2022 cruise (British Isles) and started to look for what our following cruise would be. We were very interested in the sailings departing from Barbados, and this one really caught our eye. 7 ports, all brand new for us, in 7 days. Tobago, Trinidad, Grenada, Saint Vincent, Dominica, and Saint Lucia. We looked at the various dates and decided that the cruise departing February 26th would be perfect, so I called and booked a Guarantee Balcony room. With the Kids Sail Free sale happening the price was EXTREMELY good, and we were happy. 

 

Two weeks later I get an email from Royal. The Feb 26th cruise has been chartered, but I can pick from a list of different dates and change at no cost. We settle on March 5, I call, and a wonderful thing happens. The agent explains that there are no Guarantee Balcony rooms, but that he has been authorized to give any remaining balcony rooms at no charge to those switching from this cruise. I look online and see 7656, an AFT BALCONY. I quickly request that room, and it is soon ours, for the same cost that we paid for a guarantee room for the previous cruise. We went from being excited about the itinerary to also thrilled about the room. 

 

I now had 12 months to plan the perfect week in the Southern Caribbean. We had an extremely active Facebook page for the sailing, and more-active-than-most-sailings roll call here on Cruise Critic, and we were all super excited for a cruise that would be different than most. 

[jacobtsf]

BARBADOS DAY 1- Friday, March 3

 

We spent Thursday night at the Raddison at JFK. While I don’t love flying out of JFK (or flying Jet Blue who have screwed us before) it was the only option anywhere near us with a non-stop flight. Other airports had flights with connections, but either only 25 minutes or over 9 hours, neither good when traveling with a 3 year old. 

 

Our flight was scheduled to take off at 10:30. We got through security quickly, boarded the plane on time, and then sat, and sat, and sat. 30 minutes later the pilot comes on and tells us that there is a problem with the plane, we will have to get off the plane, and that Jet Blue is working on getting another plane ready for us. This was crazy, and stressful (especially with a toddler) but we were actually very impressed that our new plane took off by 1pm (it sucked that we all had to schlep to the other end of the terminal, but oh well). 

 

Once we finally did take off the trip was smooth; our tired daughter slept the entire flight and I got to finally watch EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE, ALL AT ONCE (a weird and wonderful film, totally deserving of the praise it is getting). We were getting off the plane within 10 minutes of landing, and we were through customs shortly after that.

***Barbados does have an immigration form you have to fill out, they have a bunch of terminals to do it at the airport, but you also can do it ahead of time online (starting 48 hours before you land) and print it at home. This definitely saved a little time. ***

 

Our luggage took about 15 minutes to come out, and we were escorted right to the taxi stand, where they write down your destination and the amount to pay (both is US Dollars and Barbados Dollars, which by the way is 2 to 1 with America, so while there is some sticker shock prices aren’t terrible). We were quickly in a cab large enough for our luggage and on our way to our home for the next 2 nights, PIRATES INN. 

 

There are tons of incredible hotels, many of them right on the beach, and most of them EXTREMELY expensive (especially the weekend we were there, which was when the biggest horse race in the Caribbean was happening). Pirates Inn is more of a motel feel, mostly designed for people staying weeks at a time, but the property is nice, the room we have is unbelievably large with a nice sized balcony looking out onto the pool, a full kitchen, and air conditioning that is strong (very important). Our 2 night stay came out to about $237 total, which is less than most hotels were charging per night (before taxes and fees). AND it is one block from Rockley Beach, and close to tons of restaurants. 

 

After an extremely quick check in we walked a little over 5 minutes to Shaker’s Grill for dinner, recommended by the front desk, only to discover they had no tables available, and wouldn’t for at least 90 minutes. But they did a great job putting together a to go order (including frozen cocktails) which we ate on our hotel balcony, before going to bed after an exhausting day. We had fried shrimp, a grilled chicken sandwich with roasted potatoes and slaw, and the catch of the day (kingfish). The food was fine, though the breading on the fish didn’t hold up well on the walk back to the hotel. The drinks were both delicious and much needed after the drama of the day. 

[jacobtsf]

BARBADOS DAY 2- Saturday, March 4

 

Our daughter woke us up over 90 minutes before our alarm was set to go off, not sure if it was the bright Caribbean sun or the hours of sleep the day before. After getting ourselves together we headed down toward the beach for breakfast. 

 

We found a lovely little spot, ArtSplash Cafe, with nice food, an artist’s market, and a rather large playground that our daughter really enjoyed. We had pancakes, a salmon Benedict, and a smashed pea toast with a poached egg. The Benedict and pea toast were great, the pancakes had good flavor but were tough, and we later found out they were gluten free. Our daughter ate about half her plate, but was very happy with the fruit smoothie she had. 
 

 

This was going to be our one full day in Barbados, and we had a lot planned. We booked a tour on Viator operated by SunTours Barbados to visit the Barbados Wildlife reserve and Harrison’s Cave. Our driver picked us up a little before 10 and we were pleasantly surprised to see it was a private tour, some reviews had mentioned being part of a small group. 

 

Our driver was wonderful and talked to us all about the island as we made our trip to the Wildlife Reserve. We arrived there minutes before the monkeys were to be fed, so we were rushed there first. This was such a cool experience. The moneys are wild, but since they are fed they hang around, and boy were there a lot of them. Before the feeding began everyone was reminded to not get too close, and especially to not touch the food, the monkeys will bite you if they think you are threatening them or their lunch. We hung out there for about 20 minutes watching the monkeys of various sizes come and go, grabbing food and scurrying away a bit to eat it. Our daughter especially loved it. 

 

 

When we were done watching the monkeys we made our way back to the main part of the reserve to see the other animals. We saw turtles, chickens, deer, and a peacock. 

 

We then drove to Harrison’s Cave, but we arrived a few minutes late for the tour. We decided to wait until the next one, and our daughter took the opportunity to take a nap while waiting, and my wife and I took turns walking around the complex, which is in the middle of a major restoration/change (they are adding more attractions like zip lines and infinity pools). 

 

When it was time for our tour we were glad we stuck around. First you watch an educational film about Barbados. You then take an elevator down to the entrance to the cave, where you put on a hairnet and watch another film about the geology of the cave. You are then escorted to your team and given a hard hat before the tram goes down down

 

 

The tour was really cool, and it is extremely impressive to see what little space and light the original explorers had to work with, compared to what we got to experience. If you are at all a fan of geology I totally recommend coming here. 

 

When we were finished at Harrison’s Cave (an hour later than originally scheduled) our driver took us back to our hotel. We wanted to go to the beach, but our daughter first wanted to take a quick swim in the hotel pool. After she cooled off in the pool we walked the one block to the boardwalk, and then walked until we got to The Tiki Bar. 

 

As I mentioned earlier this cruise had an incredible social media presence, and a bunch of people wanted to do a pre-cruise meet up. One of the cruisers who is from Barbados suggested The Tiki Bar as the location, and they have a wonderful beach right there that we could enjoy before saying hi to everyone. 

 

 

After a good 90 minutes of playing at the beach we walked over to the restaurant and joined our ever growing group. Originally this meet up was going to just be for drinks, but enough people wanted food that we ended up with a gigantic table of around 30 people, plus there were other cruisers at smaller tables as well. This was so much fun, and it was great to introduce everyone to Jennie so that when they saw her all over the ship they called hi to her. 

 

After having a good dinner (and a fair number of cocktails) we walked back to the hotel and fell asleep quickly. 

 

Edited March 13, 2023 by jacobtsf

[jacobtsf]

EMBARKATION DAY- Sunday, March 5

 

In the morning we walked down to the beach and had breakfast at Baby Doll, right on the water. The food was good (blueberry pancakes, cheesey eggs on sourdough, and the Persian breakfast, which was like a shakshouka with baked eggs, onions and mushrooms), the coffee was weak, and the service was very slow, even factoring in island time. 
 

 

We went back to the hotel, repacked everything, and had the front desk call us a taxi. The trip was pretty quick, and the price is set before you step in the vehicle. When the taxi got to the port security asked to see our passports and proof we were on one of the cruises that was there. Porters met us as we approached the pier, collected our bags and walked us to the check in line. We chose to not get in the line right away, we wanted to walk around the few little shops there were and pick up some souvenirs (there is also a nice looking bar/grill, plenty of people were drinking Banks and Carib at 11 in the morning). 

 

 

When we were ready to board we walked to the line, but as soon as the staff members saw us they ushered us to benches by the front of the line and had us lead the next group to board. Because Rhapsody docks a short distance from the pier they let people through in groups, walking them from the line, to a shuttle bus, which then drives you to the Royal check in. Because this is happening in smaller groups it happens VERY QUICKLY. So while there might be a small wait while you are in the initial line once you get to the shuttle bus it really moves fast. 

 

Unlike every other cruise I’ve taken this one boards from the main gangway on deck one, and as you get on board they put you in elevators to deck 5, the floor where most of the muster stations are. They really want you to get the muster done with ASAP, which still didn’t stop some from not doing it hours after boarding. After checking in we stopped by Adventure Ocean to register our daughter, our room to drop off our carry on luggage, and then to the pool. The pool was awesome. We were on Jewel in August and were a little disappointed by the pool, but this pool was large and pretty deep, and while there was always a decent crowd it never felt crowded. We swam a while, and then headed back to the room to find our suitcases and unpack (see the next post, THE ROOM for more about the room). 

 

 

After getting the room set up for the week we went back up to the pool area to listen to some music and let our daughter dance a little bit. We then headed back to the room and got ready for dinner. We had My Time Dining, reservations at 6:30 every night. We always request the same table if possible, and if not to always be sat with the same waiter. I will be posting about food at the end. 

 

After dinner we were all exhausted. We got our daughter to sleep, went out on our balcony for a glass of wine and a chapter or 2 of reading, and then went to bed. We would have early mornings every day this week. 

[jacobtsf]

THE ROOM: 

As mentioned earlier, we ended up with 7656, an Aft Balcony, at an amazing deal! The room is nice, with only a couple signs of it’s age (2 cabinet doors that don’t like to stay open being the worst thing, and that really isn’t that bad) and a couple things I miss from other classes, like the shelves by the vanity that are the perfect size for books. And I’m not a fan of the shower curtain in that tight a space. But there were MANY positives. There is a large amount of storage, the bed is actually really comfortable, the couple in the connecting room next door said they can’t hear our daughter even when she’s being loud, and the BALCONY, oh the balcony! 

 

 

It is so deep, 2 chairs, a round table, and 2 loungers. The room steward (Herri, who is also wonderful) suggested also putting the oval table from inside the room out on the balcony so that there is actually a little bit of space when the sofa bed is out, and it is the perfect height and length to go between the loungers. 

 

 

My wife and I love to read and drink a glass of wine on our balcony after our toddler has gone to bed. The previous balcony we had was a Central Park balcony on Allure, where there was enough light to read by, but after asking here we decided to purchase usb powered lights that can clip to the chairs. They have long cords, and we plug them into an external usb battery that we charge during the day. They have 4 different brightness settings and we found the second lowest is perfect. 

 

 

This was a really wonderful room, we were thrilled that we got it, and we are going to be missing the size of the balcony when we are on Oasis in July. 
 

Edited March 13, 2023 by jacobtsf

[jacobtsf]

TOBAGO- Monday, March 6

 

 

We had an absolutely incredible private tour that was completely designed for our daughter’s interest by Terry at Tobago Island Fun Tours. It included a short walk in a beautiful rainforest where we got to feed fish and swim by a waterfall, a visit to a hummingbird sanctuary, and time at a beautiful beach, Enlighman’s Bay, including a delicious lunch of either chicken or fish with rice, beans, salad, macaroni pie, and a drink (we tried the Carib lager and the Carib Ginger shandy). 

 

 

 

Terry met us in the KFC parking lot immediately across the street from the port as soon as the gangway was down, and we were back a little before 5, so it was a long but truly wonderful day. 

 

After we got back to the room we put our stuff down and headed to Adventure Ocean. Every day at 5:15 they had a family activity for parents and kids to do together. We did this activity on Monday (arts and crafts), Tuesday (science experiment), Wednesday (Potato Muffalo, where you use numbers and letters to draw other things (in this case a turtle) Thursday (a scavenger hunt that our daughter was a little young for) and Saturday (family bingo). It was a great opportunity for our daughter to unwind after long days of touring, and for us to meet some of the other families. 

[jacobtsf]

TRINIDAD- Tuesday, March 7

 

My wife and I really don’t like ship sponsored excursions. We almost always will have a private or small group tour (or just do the city on our own if that is doable). But there were MANY MANY security warnings about Trinidad. We felt that a ship sponsored excursion was the safest thing to do for our family. 

 

This morning the 3 of us did a morning tour of Caroni Swamp where we had the opportunity to see all sorts of animals including Blue Herons, snakes, ant eaters, flamingos, and the National animal of the country the Scarlet Ibis. We had an absolutely fantastic guide who pointed out all of the animals he could see. It was hot when the tour started (and got hotter as the two hour tour continued), and our little one got a little bored after the 60 minute mark, but luckily the other cruisers near us on the tour fully understood and helped keep her happy. At one point she laid down on the floor of the boat in the only shade near us for about 5 minutes. 

 

 

 

 

When our 20-something passenger bus arrived back at the ship a little after noon our daughter was sound asleep in our arms, but when we put her down for a nap in our room she woke up and announced that she wanted to go to the kids club, and WITHOUT US. She spent a little over 2 hours happily playing while mommy and daddy napped in the room, the heat was definitely affecting me. 

 

When the beeper from Adventure Ocean went off we were a little concerned, but they wanted to let us know that she was hungry and asking for food. Since my wife was also hungry they went to Windjammer for a late lunch while I got all of our stuff ready for the pool. A quick change of clothes later we were all swimming, while Black Panther: Wakanda Forever played on the big screen. The water was cool and lovely and I was finally feeling better, and there were a few other young kids by the pool that our daughter was able to play with. 

 

After swimming we went to the family activity in Adventure Ocean. We then decided on a light dinner at Windjammer (a first for us, we usually do MDR or a Specialty Restaurant) and had an early night. 

[jacobtsf]

GRENADA- Wednesday, March 8

 

Today we had an incredible 3 part tour organized by Nathalie at Explorer Grenada, who was also our incredible guide who made sure our daughter was entertained the entire time. 

 

First up we went river tubing near the Grand Etang rainforest. At first our daughter wasn’t sure about wearing the lifevest and helmet but once we got in the water she loved it. She rode with her mom for the majority of the trip, but once we got to a calm spot she was able to sit in her own tube for a bit and was giggling like crazy. 
 

 

Next, we traveled to Belmont Estate, a 17th century farm that is still in operation that grows all sorts of fruits and vegetables, and they specialize in Cocoa Beans which they make into their own chocolate bars. While my wife and I toured, our daughter was able to walk around the estate with our guide meeting the animals and even got to walk on top of the drying beans, a process that helps turn them over. 

 

 

 

Finally we went to the River Antoine Estate, a rum distillery that has been making their rum the same exact way since 1785. Instead of using molasses like many modern distilleries this place uses only the juice extracted from the sugar cane they grow on their property. Every step (except for checking the alcohol percentage) is done by hand. 

 

 

 

This tour was truly an all-day tour. We left at 9 and we were walking back onboard at 5:10. When we realized what time it was we ran as fast as we could to Adventure Ocean, and got there just in time for the family activity. 

[jacobtsf]

ST VINCENT - Thursday, March 9

 

Today we had an incredible tour with Sammy from Detention Tours. We were joined by 2 couples and another family of 3 with a 4 year old girl from Barbados that our daughter had become friends with at Adventure Ocean. The two kids spent the entire 7 hours having fun together, and that was wonderful. 

 

This tour took us all over the island up and down crazy hills and around insane turns, but Sammy made us all feel safe and kept us supplied with rum punch (and juice boxes for the kids) to keep a smile on our face. He also fed us a delicious light lunch with sandwiches, chicken wings, and sweet breads, and he stopped at a roadside shack to pick up fresh steamed sweet potato pudding for all of us. 

 

We visited Fort Charlotte, Heritage Park, Dark View Waterfall (with the chance to go under the waterfall) which you access by a bamboo bridge, one of the filming locations from Pirates of the Carribean, and then a beach stop at Buccament Bay. 

 

 

 

Just a heads up about Buccament Bay, there were a handful of Jellyfish in the water, and with the seaweed they weren’t super easy to spot. One of the ladies on our tour got a little sting, and someone else who was there got stung pretty bad. 
 

Edited March 13, 2023 by jacobtsf

[jacobtsf]

DOMINICA- Friday, March 10

 

While the majority of the tours we did with our daughter’s interests in mind today was all about my wife and I. 

 

This morning we dropped our daughter off in Adventure Ocean around 9am stayed in the Kids Club while we went out on a small little 8 passenger boat with some other cruisers to go looking for whales on a tour by PH Whale Watch. 

 

It took about 40 minutes of searching before we saw our first, but after that we had sighting after sighting, including 2 incredible moments where a whale jumped out of the water like Free Willy. 
 

*I have a video of the breach that I will try to post when I am on a computer and not my phone*

 

This was a truly incredible experience, we highly recommend it to everyone!

 

 

After completing some souvenir shopping on the walk back to the ship we picked up our daughter from Adventure Ocean around 1, had a quick lunch at Windjammer, and then to the pool deck for a relaxing afternoon of swimming (with some frozen drinks and ice cream for good measure). 

[link99]

Thank you for the Review. We will be on this Cruise a week from today.

[jacobtsf]

SAINT LUCIA- Saturday, March 11

 

Today we had an awesome 6 hour trip all around the island with Cosol Tours! I heard about Cosol on the St Lucia boards here at Cruise Critic where they have rave review after rave review. 

 

We first stopped at the Morne Fortune viewing point, where we had an incredible view of the island. 

 

We then visited a banana plantation where we learned growing bananas and also had a chance to sample them (as well as banana ketchup and banana barbecue sauce). Then we drove through two fishing villages Anse La Raye and Canaries. 

 

 

Then we stopped at the home of a local chef to sample fish cakes, veggie cakes, johnny cakes (a fried bread), daal pastries, and chicken wings. 

 

We then descended towards the town of Soufriere where we had incredible views of the Twin Pitons. From Soufriere we took a boat to Sugar Beach, which is located between the Pitons for swimming and snorkeling. 

 

 

 

We then made our way uphill to the only drive-in volcano in the world, where we got to experience a mineral mud bath. 

 

 

Our final stop was the Toraille Waterfall where we had one final chance to get wet before heading back to the ship. 

 

When we got back to the room I took our daughter to the family activity (bingo) while my wife worked on packing. 

 

After dinner we knew there were a few things we needed to do that would be easier without a child hanging off of us (like picking out photos), so we took our daughter to Adventure Ocean one final time. About an hour later I picked her up while my wife continued to work on packing. By 9:30 our 4 big bags were in the hall and our carry on bags were mostly packed. 

[jacobtsf]

DISEMBARKATION- Sunday, March 12

 

This morning we disembarked from our cruise ship and, with 8 hours until our flight, decided the best thing to do was take a ship sponsored tour all around the island. I hate large bus tours, but our driver was also an excellent narrator, and very entertaining. 

 

First, we stopped at the Mount Gay Rum Visitors Center, where we got to learn the history of the oldest continuously operating rum distillery in the world, and got to drink more than enough rum for 9:30 in the morning. 

 

We next stopped at Bathsheba Beach, where surfers go for crazy waves. 

 

 

Finally we stopped at St John Parrish Anglican Church, which dates back to the 1600s. 

 

 

All along the way our driver pointed out the sights, (including the small house where Rihanna grew up, and the fancy condo she now owns). 

 

We were dropped off at the airport right next to the Royal Caribbean representatives who had our luggage. After packing our new run purchases in our suitcases we made our way to check in, then the food court, before finally sitting near our gate. 

[jacobtsf]

DINNERS

 

I know everyone wants to know our feelings on the new MDR menu. We ate dinner in the main dining room every night except for night 3, when we ate in Windjammer. As mentioned above, there is no free lobster on this sailing, but that didn’t stop my wife from ordering the premium one one night. 
 

ALSO, I hadn’t seen this mentioned before, but in italics under the chicken dish of the day is a note saying you can also order a plain grilled chicken, and under the Indian meal there is a note saying that there is also a vegetarian Indian Meal available. 
 

The weirdest thing we noted, and maybe it was just this kitchen, but the soups, sauces and even the Caesar salad dressing were very thin. The flavor was still good, but they were thin. 
 

For dinners we had the following (not including items from the children’s menu). I’ve put notes next to some. Feel free to ask questions:

 

APPETIZERS

Escargot- my wife said this is the best the escargot has been in years. 

Roasted Tomato Soup- thin

French Onion Soup- thin

Butternut Squash Bisque- thin

Caesar Salad- dressing was yummy but almost watery

Arancini- these were delicious. 

Polenta fries- not great. We didn’t love them when we ordered them last august, and still don’t. 

Shrimp Cocktail- perfectly fine

Leek & Potato Soup- thin

Goat Cheese Tart- fine

Vidalia Onion Tart- very good

Melon & Avocado Salad- the avocado could have been a little more ripe. Flavor was good. 

Mediterranean Tapas Medley

Pan Seared Asparagus- this was the weirdest one. We ordered this in August and got HUGE pieces of asparagus, this came out with 5 pieces of super thin asparagus (even though the menu said jumbo). I’m assuming it is a supply issue. Flavor was still good. 

 

ENTREES

Spaghetti Bolognese- always a safe, but good, choice

Chicken and Leek pie- when I got this in August it had a thick rich sauce. This had the same exact flavor, but it was very thin. 

Chicken Cordon Bleu- good flavor, wish there was a Dijon cream or something

Asparagus Spring Pea Risotto- this was the one item that was better than the last time we had it. 

Chicken Parm- the chicken was good, pasta was almost on the verge of too Al Dente, wish there was more sauce

Pan Seared Fillet of Sole- absolutely delicious 

Fish & Chips- good

Chicken Tika Masala- the flavor was great, but there was NO SAUCE. If any dish should be swimming in sauce it is this one, and what are you supposed to do with the rice without any sauce. The head waiter (who was Indian) came to ask how it was and I told him I was disappointed in the lack of sauce, he offered to bring a bowl of sauce but I said it wasn’t needed. 

Grilled Jumbo Shrimp- very good

Stuffed Red Bell Pepper- good flavor but needs a ton more sauce. Cous Cous doesn’t work when it is bone dry. When I tasted the little sauce there was with the cous cous it was a delicious bite. This was also the thickest and richest sauce. 

Chicken Chettinad- the headwater must have spoken to somebody, because there was a good amount of sauce on this, and it was awesome!

*PREMIUM* Maine Lobster Tail- tasted great 

 

DESSERTS

Key lime pie- good

Caramel peanut bar- odd texture, good flavor

Apple Tart- I wouldn’t call this a tart, definitely more of a cobbler or something, but good

Chocolate Chip Cookie with Raspeberry- eh

Lemon Curd Tartlet- good

Tirimisu- lady fingers needed to soak more, some parts were still a touch crunchy, but flavor was good

Sticky Toffee Pudding- where’s the sticky??? This had great flavor, but needed sauce

Warm Chocolate Cake- good

Red Velvet Cake- fine, cream cheese icing could use more cream cheese

Baked Alaska- always a good choice

Crema Catalina- a good twist on the classic crème brûlée 

Dark Chocolate Brownie- extremely rich, couldn’t eat the whole thing, but great flavor

[jacobtsf]

2 hours ago, link99 said:

Thank you for the Review. We will be on this Cruise a week from today.

Please ask any questions, I’d be happy to answer them. 

[sgmn]

Sounds like a great cruise with some interesting ports

Did you go to any of the shows ?

[jacobtsf]

2 hours ago, sgmn said:

Sounds like a great cruise with some interesting ports

Did you go to any of the shows ?

It was hard with our daughter, by the time dinner was over it was basically bedtime.  But we did watch about 10 minutes of Piano Man, I thought it was well done, but our daughter was getting restless. 

 

One night my wife wanted to get to sleep early, and instead of hanging out on the balcony by myself I went to the headliner show, Frankie and the Dreamers, a Frankie Valli tribute band led by a star of Jersey Boys.  I don't know if he was sick or just not happy with the 3-quarter empty audience that wasn't giving much energy, but he didn't have the power for the high notes, sounded very strained, and was too focused on banter. I'm hoping it was just an off night, but I left after about 15 minutes.

[clochette]

Thank you for sharing your cruise and excursions, seems that it was a great cruise and amazing memories.

[Lreece552]

My husband and I were on your March 5th cruise. I absolutely enjoyed your review! You should do this for a living. Usually I plan our vacations to the nth degree, but we were lazy this go around. We still had a marvelous cruise with great excursions. Our favorites were diving/snorkeling and the zodiac whale watch. You encouraged me to really plan for our 40th anniversary cruise next year. We are planning on doing something in the Mediterranean. Have you been?

[link99]

I have several questions.

 

1. Did you notice a drink card being offered. Since this a port intensive Cruise we will not purchase the DBP. We each get 5 drinks and our excursions each day will have some beverages included. 

 

2 Did you notice a High Security Presence in Trinidad. We have seen the State Department Warnings. Thus doing a Ship excursion. Did you have a chance to try the Bake N Shark?

 

3. Did you notice long lines for check in. We are in the 2 to 3pm time frame. Flying Same Day.

 

4 Is there a duty Free Shop in the Port. Did you notice wine Prices.

 

5 On boarding day we want to go out in the afternoon/evening. It has been reported all aboard time on Departure day is 8pm.

 

Any answers you can give are appreciated. Loved your review.

 

[sumrgurl99]

What advice do you have for cruising with toddlers? We’ve cruised a bunch pre-kids pre-Covid, but will be taking our 2 and 3 (almost 4) year old on their first cruise soon. We live near the port so no flying involved for this first time at least. Did you take/use a stroller? 

[jacobtsf]

33 minutes ago, Lreece552 said:

My husband and I were on your March 5th cruise. I absolutely enjoyed your review! You should do this for a living. Usually I plan our vacations to the nth degree, but we were lazy this go around. We still had a marvelous cruise with great excursions. Our favorites were diving/snorkeling and the zodiac whale watch. You encouraged me to really plan for our 40th anniversary cruise next year. We are planning on doing something in the Mediterranean. Have you been?

We have. We sailed on Freedom out of Barcelona in 2017, and went to Provence, Nice, Florence/Pisa, Rome and Naples/Pompeii. 
 

My biggest piece of advice is avoid the ship tours at all costs. Provence/Marseille and Nice are super easy to just do on your on, their are some great self-guided walking tours you can find online. If you are interested in Pompeii that is also super easy to do on your own, but you do need to catch public transportation (or take a taxi there).
 

For Florence/Pisa and Rome I really recommend finding a small group tour. In 2017 we used ItalyTours.EU for both stops, and we toured with about 4 other couples that we found here on Cruise Critic. It was cheaper than a ship tour, we got more time at all of the best locations, and we had a guide focused on just our group. 

[jacobtsf]

2 hours ago, link99 said:

I have several questions.

 

1. Did you notice a drink card being offered. Since this a port intensive Cruise we will not purchase the DBP. We each get 5 drinks and our excursions each day will have some beverages included. 

 

2 Did you notice a High Security Presence in Trinidad. We have seen the State Department Warnings. Thus doing a Ship excursion. Did you have a chance to try the Bake N Shark?

 

3. Did you notice long lines for check in. We are in the 2 to 3pm time frame. Flying Same Day.

 

4 Is there a duty Free Shop in the Port. Did you notice wine Prices.

 

5 On boarding day we want to go out in the afternoon/evening. It has been reported all aboard time on Departure day is 8pm.

 

Any answers you can give are appreciated. Loved your review.

 

1) No drink card that we saw, but we spent very little time at any bar on this trip. I agree that with 7 Port days a drink package of any kind is really not worth it, in fact, my wife and I didn’t even order our customary glass of wine each at dinner every night. 
 

2) We were warned about the security issues at Trinidad, which is why we did a ship excursion. To be honest we noticed more security at the Tobago port, but we didn’t hang out in the Trinidad port except to walk to and from our bus. We did not have a Bake N Shark
 

3) As I said we got to skip the line a bit thanks to the stroller, but it really wasn’t that long, and busses seemed to arrive often enough that it moved. 
 

4) The craft booths outside the main building were open on departure day, but I didn’t see the duty free shops until we were being walked to our excursion bus on departure day. They definitely existed. When we walked from the check in line to the bus we did so outside the building so we missed them completely. As for wine, if you’re arriving/departing on a Sunday you might be out of luck, the wine stores on the island are closed on Sunday, we picked up our two bottles on Saturday morning after breakfast. 
 

5) we did not leave the ship once we boarded, but we heard the same thing, after checking in you were welcome to go back out (just please do your muster check in first). All aboard time was at 8. 

[czrunner]

I would like to commend you on taking your young daughter along on the cruise, and visiting all the ports with her.  We did only land based tours on our own with our two small children, but I believe that it is a great experience for the little ones, and it helps to expand their world view.  Our travel style may now be considered child abuse (traveling on a local bus in Ecuador with a 2 year old on our lap when a ticket for him was not available, staying in a small hotel where he drank the unpotable water, etc.), but our kids, now adults, still have fond memories of our travel, and laugh about the experience.

I enjoyed your interesting reviews.  We are taking a slightly different cruise next month, but will also do the COSOL tour in St. Lucia.