Golden Princess 03 November 07 - Review

[newmexicoNita]

Crazy question but what are LOX for breakfast. It must be an abbreviation for something right.

Klash1

lox are raw salmon (I know it sounds awful) usually served with cream cheese, onions, sliced tomatoes on bagels. it really is the entire combination that makes them so yummy!!! some people prefer the combination with smoked Salmon rather than raw as it has a little more flavor.

 

Nita

[klash1]

Thanks NewMexico. I never would have thought thats what it was. I love smoked salmon but I will shy away from the raw stuff and leave it for the Grizzly Bears.

Klash1

[swiss]

We were also on this Golden sailing. For the most we had a great week and enjoyed the Golden. We had great weather, met lots of great people, had lots of laughs and never had a bad moment. We fortunately had a great cabin steward (Gerry, cabin E731) that worked very hard to please us.

 

The service in the dining room was hit and miss, but I think that is a fault of personal choice dining. In personal choice you never have the opportunity to connect continuously with a dining staff so you loose a lot of the personal touchs that I love with the traditional dining.

 

The crew on the Golden seemed to be overworked and understaffed somewhat. I think that the crews overall tiredness was definitely affecting their smiles and service, (but if I was an understaffed crew member, I would have probably acted the same way). We kept our autotipping plus tipped our cabin steward extra.

We used the gym almost everyday. We really enjoyed the spin cycling classes and the Golden has a great jogging track. The gym and the sauna/bathroom facilities were not the best design in fact they were pretty lousy.

 

We did not have any problem with the layout of the ship other than navigating to the dining rooms in the middle of the ship.

 

The food was OK. Did not like the layout of the Horizon Buffet, way to compact and crowded. One thing that I thought was great on this ship was the deserts.

[winecountry]

I'll come back in to say that we would sail on the Golden again if there was an itinerary we liked.

The "airhead" steward is the first time on Princess that we encountered cabin service that was lacking. We didn't pull out auto-tips because we knew that doing so would require those we tipped individually to turn their tips for sharing. But we gave the flighty steward an insult - we only put $5 in her tip envelope. Normally we'd have put in at least $20 each.

 

Although we met people onboard who had cruised there mulitple times before, I'm not sure that I would want to do the MR again. It was nice to see new ports, but we weren't as impressed with them as we have been in the Caribbean and other places we have sailed to. Maybe a lot of these frequent MR cruisers live in CA and it's an easy trip to the port. We traveled from Ohio and Florida.

 

We felt that the aggressive vendors were more pushy in PV and Maz. The ones in Cabo seemed better able to understand what "NO" meant. They'd offer, we'd say no, and they did not push it. The worst were the ones in PV and Maz at places where the tour buses made routine stops. The vendors badgered everyone who got off the buses in those places. We bought very little in Mexico because we were turned off by the vendors, just like we had been on a cruise stop in Cozumel.

I don't want to give the impression that we didn't enjoy the cruise. We did get to visit new places and take tours of things that interested us. And we did have fun.

I hope all who read this who are booked on this itinerary and this ship have a great experience. Don't let our negative observations make you sorry you booked. So far I have not regretted any cruise, and my impressions have not always been the same as others on the same ship. As with taste in food, most of it is very subjective.

 

I'm wondering if these vendors could have been timeshare sales people, they are the worst.

[bobbyd6363]

I'm wondering if these vendors could have been timeshare sales people, they are the worst.

 

winecountry - the timeshare people in Cabo would wave and yell at you as you came toward them but as you walked past them, they turned to the next person. The vendors I speak of are the ones along the sea wall and in front of the dolphin aquarium. I watched this one vendor crawling all over the "pretty lady" and he wouldnt take no for an answer! Then there were all the ones down toward the Hard Rock Cafe that were relentless. To put a funny spin on it, one guy actually said "come here and let me show how I want to rip you off"! LOL!

[jagmanss1]

In the beginning of this thread I started to post some comments of our experience on the golden and will continue... But just wanted those who read this thread to know that we all have read positive and negative things about the Golden and the ports and all went with an open mind and went knowing that no matter what A cruise is what you make of it and you make your own fun as we always have and did on this cruise... We did have lots of fun and laughs....

I think all cruisers need to be informed with information good or bad and of course make their own conclusions upon returning and that is what we are doing....

Just so you all know our group as Bobbyd stated was about 30 people some cruised togther last year while others we all have cruised with before one time or another and met all on these CC Boards... While others we have just met on our roll call.... Our experiences on the golden varied to some degree within this group as most had anytime dining and the group was split, Some went to dinner early while others went later, while others were split between 2 dining rooms, But none of us really knew that most were encountering the same or similar problems until the 5th or 6th night.....

So as you can see some these problems were not 1 or 2 isolated instances nor seen together as A whole group....

I will continue with my observations good and bad

[jagmanss1]

Just to refresh

 

 

My wife and I were on this same sailing as Bobbyd and agree with his assessment and have comments of my own....

 

Pre-Cruise

We also stayed at the Westin Long Beach and although it was in a great location and nice area within walking distance to all Restuarants, We didn't really care for it. If we had not gotten such A good rate I would not stay again. I felt the room to be your standard 2 double bed and nothing special, No fan in bathroom, No balconies, No free shuttle service, They charge hotel guests a parking fee and not even A continental breakfast.... The pool area run down and this is billed to be A 5 star Hotel.... If big beutiful atriums and decor of the commom areas are your thing than this is the place...

 

We stayed at the Quality Inn orlando Airport the night before our flight to LAX and they were clean and had 2 queen beds, Nicley landscaped pool area, balonies, free continental breakfast in an open seating area, Free shuttle service to the area and airport, Free parking of our car for 8 days.... Now this is my kinda place for only $69 per night.... Hey!! We only need to sleep there.... But the little extras are nice....

 

Embarkation

We had friends of ours take us to the port around noon and there were hardley any lines and were on within 10 min...

Side Note: To those wondering if you can bring beer onboard.... I tested what I have read on these boards... I bought an 18 pack of Bud cans and put A luggage tag on it and asked the porter if this can get to my cabin and he said no problem, I tipped him and went on my way thinking yeah that will be the last I see of that... Not so... To my amazement it not only arrived But was the first piece of luggage that arrived:D Nice!!!

 

Ship Details

Pretty much the same as Bobbyd.... Found this ship hard to navigate... We were on the Island Princess 2 yrs ago and thought this would be about the same... Not even close.... We found that our favorite spot to go for pre-Dinner drinks was the Martini bar on deck 7 which is really called the promanade bar on the deck plans and still don't really know what it is called, But they made the best lemon drop martini's on the ship... We found nothing was ever clearly marked as to what loung you were at.... we looked on the side of the doors,Behind the doors and found no signs ever... Hmm.. Maybe I'm going blind... :eek:

 

I will continue my comments about Dining, Cabin, Entertainment,Ports later in another post

[flamomo]

Hey Bobby - - I'll never tell what I'm wearin"!

AND, btw, I think you forgot something onboard.

Where's that drink you said you owed me???

 

The vendors that we found so annoying were those with questionable "silver" jewelry and cheap tourist trinkets. They were the worst at the tour bus stops. There were just hanging out there waiting for the next batch of suckers to arrive. They were quite persistent. Wanted you to believe that they would make you a great deal on silver items, and would want you to haggle. But quality of the "silver" unknown, so we would not buy from them.

[dlp252]

I also wanted to say that we also enjoyed our cruise tremendously...the line I spoke of in the buffet, was just to reiterate that lines sometimes happen...we weren't upset about it. This was one of the most relaxing vacations I've ever had...it was wonderful, lol.

 

Did I understand this correctly? While you were at the muster drill the ship pulled away from its berth ? That is our favorite time on the ship. It is such fun to watch land fade away and know that we are on our way to an awesome week. We always make a party of it. I will not be a happy camper, I mean sailor, if that happens :(

 

On our sailing the week before, we also were back in our cabin before the sailaway.

 

We were also on this Golden sailing. For the most we had a great week and enjoyed the Golden. We had great weather, met lots of great people, had lots of laughs and never had a bad moment. We fortunately had a great cabin steward (Gerry, cabin E731) that worked very hard to please us.

 

We had Gerry too (E721 on the 10/27 sailing), and I have to agree...he was FANTASTIC!! He had our names (and correctly applied to the correct individual, lol), immediately and really took good care of us.

 

did you find the breakfast buffet lacking? is it true they didn't have eggs, or an omelete station? I have cruise many times and never experienced this type of breakfast. Most have lox at least a couple mornings in the buffet and omeletes. What was your experience? we are booked in Jan. don't like the sound of what Op is saying.

 

Yes, I think lox was available at breakfast most mornings on our sailing, although I have to say that I didn't specifically look for that. They didn't have an egg station per se, but my friend WAS able to get an omelet made to order every morning.

[jagmanss1]

To Continue my comments and observations.....

Dining

We also chose anytime dining and we did like it.... Unlike Bobbyd we never really had A problem getting A drink order before dinner, But they never really asked if I needed another either and that empty glass would sit there for 1/2 the meal, Never on any cruise have I had this happen.... The food is very subjective as on any line and thought it was good.. The prime rib on the 1st night I thought was excellent as was the escargot, Beef Wellington, lobster tails and prawns... The problem here stemed from service... The waiters would take our order from around the table and would forget who orderd what... ok is that not what they make A pen and pencil for? Even when they wrote it down they got it wrong... Example of many: My wife and I both orderd 2 Escargot a piece and only received 1 and the waiter wrote it down:eek: ....

There were times where I got the crap scared out of me and the waiters hand would come over my shoulder and grab A plate without even an excuse me or any word or warning... Throughout the cruise I anticipated this move and trust me it happend alot and kept my eye on them only to be outwitted during mid conversation...

Smiles!! everyone Smiles!!! Not really... Some did some didn't... Not even A greeting at times.... They would come up take the napkin put it on your lap and hand you A menu....

There is good in all of this so I took this from Bobbyd Review as we were sitting at this table for those 2 nights with this part of the group and could not say it any better...

 

We got really lucky on the 6th night of our cruise by finding Jorge and Leo (table 61) in the Donatello dining room. They were awesome! These two pulled it together and provided us service that had been sorely missing all week! We were so thrilled we immediately reserved their table for the next night too! Jorge sang to us and made jokes. He even teamed up with several of my group to play a joke on me and another of my party! My hat is off to Jorge and Leo for saving our cruise!

Horizon Court .... As stated this seemed to be bottle necked and from what I observed most people thought there was A Line, But really was not.... There were 2 entrances into the buffet stations that were not clearly marked.. Most times I would just skip getting in line for A plate and mill about to see if I wanted someting 1st...My wife did find and have some good selections of food including the smoked fish that was excellent along with the Ribs... We skipped out on the dining room one night and ate here and thought the food was good not excellent but ok..... Again service came into play... no smiles no greeting....

 

Pizza... As always the Pizza on Princess is the best and looked foward to it and on the most part was very good, But found it to be inconsistent unlike the Island princess there were times it was under cooked and unedible and the same person was always baking it on the most part and had to throw it away and wait and go back and it was very good again.....

 

Desert Rose... We ate here with several other couples and the food and service were awesome for $15pp can not be missed the 10oz filet was done to perfection the prawns (giant shrimp) Biggest I ever saw were excellent.. Service.... Outstanding with smiles and greetings.... I also I find it sad that you have to pay to get great service that has in all previous cruises been there throught the ship.... Enough on dining... any questins ask

 

 

Entertainment

The comedian kevin Hughs is not to be missied, His show is called Relationships and is in 2 parts and is the funniest comedian I have seen in A long time...

We went to a ventriloquist show and thought it was hokey and not very good besides the lights being brought up and stayed on blinding you for all the late straglers was annoying as were the people coming in 1/2 hour late and so we decided to leave....

 

The pool area band was ok, but I guess I'm not into mexican music.... Thought the pipied in top 20's was way better and when the band came on we either left or tuned them out... I know this was A mexican Riviera cruise and the band I guess should be in the theme of things I just didn't think they were very good at all...

 

Purser’s Desk Same as Bobbyd

Purser’s Desk service was pretty darn cold and impersonal. I have met nicer people at an emergency room check in desk! Not a single smile in the bunch! Not even a hello or how are you! These people ARE the front line faces for Princess Cruises. Don’t you think they should give “EXCELLENT” service? Morticians are warmer.

Ports next....

[newmexicoNita]

We were also on this Golden sailing. For the most we had a great week and enjoyed the Golden. We had great weather, met lots of great people, had lots of laughs and never had a bad moment. We fortunately had a great cabin steward (Gerry, cabin E731) that worked very hard to please us.

 

The service in the dining room was hit and miss, but I think that is a fault of personal choice dining. In personal choice you never have the opportunity to connect continuously with a dining staff so you loose a lot of the personal touchs that I love with the traditional dining.

 

The crew on the Golden seemed to be overworked and understaffed somewhat. I think that the crews overall tiredness was definitely affecting their smiles and service, (but if I was an understaffed crew member, I would have probably acted the same way). We kept our autotipping plus tipped our cabin steward extra.

We used the gym almost everyday. We really enjoyed the spin cycling classes and the Golden has a great jogging track. The gym and the sauna/bathroom facilities were not the best design in fact they were pretty lousy.

 

We did not have any problem with the layout of the ship other than navigating to the dining rooms in the middle of the ship.

 

The food was OK. Did not like the layout of the Horizon Buffet, way to compact and crowded. One thing that I thought was great on this ship was the deserts.

As much as I am a strong supporter of flex dining (we usually choose NCL) I do think the service in the dining rooms suffers a little. We have never noticed the staff being overworked, just not as attentive as with traditional dining. This isn't the case every night, but certainly sometimes. Maybe it has to do with the lack of repeat business, the tip pooling, whatever, but there is some truth to this. Of course on our last 2 traditional dining ventures our service wasn't like the "olden days" maybe it is just the world we live in today where service doesn't seem to be anyones number one concern.

 

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

To Continue my comments and observations.....

Dining

We also chose anytime dining and we did like it.... Unlike Bobbyd we never really had A problem getting A drink order before dinner, But they never really asked if I needed another either and that empty glass would sit there for 1/2 the meal, Never on any cruise have I had this happen.... The food is very subjective as on any line and thought it was good.. The prime rib on the 1st night I thought was excellent as was the escargot, Beef Wellington, lobster tails and prawns... The problem here stemed from service... The waiters would take our order from around the table and would forget who orderd what... ok is that not what they make A pen and pencil for? Even when they wrote it down they got it wrong... Example of many: My wife and I both orderd 2 Escargot a piece and only received 1 and the waiter wrote it down:eek: ....

There were times where I got the crap scared out of me and the waiters hand would come over my shoulder and grab A plate without even an excuse me or any word or warning... Throughout the cruise I anticipated this move and trust me it happend alot and kept my eye on them only to be outwitted during mid conversation...

Smiles!! everyone Smiles!!! Not really... Some did some didn't... Not even A greeting at times.... They would come up take the napkin put it on your lap and hand you A menu....

There is good in all of this so I took this from Bobbyd Review as we were sitting at this table for those 2 nights with this part of the group and could not say it any better...

 

We got really lucky on the 6th night of our cruise by finding Jorge and Leo (table 61) in the Donatello dining room. They were awesome! These two pulled it together and provided us service that had been sorely missing all week! We were so thrilled we immediately reserved their table for the next night too! Jorge sang to us and made jokes. He even teamed up with several of my group to play a joke on me and another of my party! My hat is off to Jorge and Leo for saving our cruise!

Horizon Court .... As stated this seemed to be bottle necked and from what I observed most people thought there was A Line, But really was not.... There were 2 entrances into the buffet stations that were not clearly marked.. Most times I would just skip getting in line for A plate and mill about to see if I wanted someting 1st...My wife did find and have some good selections of food including the smoked fish that was excellent along with the Ribs... We skipped out on the dining room one night and ate here and thought the food was good not excellent but ok..... Again service came into play... no smiles no greeting....

 

Pizza... As always the Pizza on Princess is the best and looked foward to it and on the most part was very good, But found it to be inconsistent unlike the Island princess there were times it was under cooked and unedible and the same person was always baking it on the most part and had to throw it away and wait and go back and it was very good again.....

 

Desert Rose... We ate here with several other couples and the food and service were awesome for $15pp can not be missed the 10oz filet was done to perfection the prawns (giant shrimp) Biggest I ever saw were excellent.. Service.... Outstanding with smiles and greetings.... I also I find it sad that you have to pay to get great service that has in all previous cruises been there throught the ship.... Enough on dining... any questins ask

 

 

Entertainment

The comedian kevin Hughs is not to be missied, His show is called Relationships and is in 2 parts and is the funniest comedian I have seen in A long time...

We went to a ventriloquist show and thought it was hokey and not very good besides the lights being brought up and stayed on blinding you for all the late straglers was annoying as were the people coming in 1/2 hour late and so we decided to leave....

 

The pool area band was ok, but I guess I'm not into mexican music.... Thought the pipied in top 20's was way better and when the band came on we either left or tuned them out... I know this was A mexican Riviera cruise and the band I guess should be in the theme of things I just didn't think they were very good at all...

 

Purser’s Desk Same as Bobbyd

Purser’s Desk service was pretty darn cold and impersonal. I have met nicer people at an emergency room check in desk! Not a single smile in the bunch! Not even a hello or how are you! These people ARE the front line faces for Princess Cruises. Don’t you think they should give “EXCELLENT” service? Morticians are warmer.

Ports next....

thanks for a very in debth and objective review: I can't wait to try Desert Rose. As for overall service and paying for the service we are used to getting free: I think this is part of the changing cruise experience. Pursers desk, again 20 plus cruises and very rarely have I seen a truely friendly one, some worse that others. The worst for us in recent years: HAL last year. Not only were they lacking in smiles, but didn't follow through on the 2 things we asked about.

 

Nita

[jagmanss1]

I should also make it known that we also had the auto tips removed because of the lack of service and tipped who we felt deserved it in cash.... 1st cruise I ever felt the need not to tip because of poor service.... This is sad and autotip I feel is to blame..... Back to what we observed

our cabin attendant was lacking in getting ice that we had requested twice at 1st and needed to remind him with A note that we requested to have 2 buckets of ice filled at all times... At 1st only one then had to call for the other several times... requested 2 bathrobes and only got 1 the next day.... The second day I noticed that we never received our coupon booklet that others in our group had received from our TA and asked allen about it and he said he would check into it and get back with us... He never followed through even though I asked for several days... Would have went to the pursers desk but after what we have seen from them I knew I would get nowhere and gave up and called it a loss... He only did what was needed in the cabin and we barely saw him most of the cruise... Until the last night when he decided to talk up a storm about how he was on for 10 months and will now be off for 10 months... Ok that explains the lack of service, But he was ok and did tip him in cash

Room service.... This was another area that was inconsitent.... We had filled out the breakfast card every night and set it out... food came on time but things were always missing.... This was not the blame of the person that brought it so I still tipped, but 1 morn I held the door open for the staff person delivering the order and she was rude and said you need to move in a nasty tone... you get the idea... enough of that...

Ports

Puerto Vallarta

We did the El Eden Zipline with some of our group and found that this one is pretty extreme in the amount of climbing you need to do up steep steps and I mean alot of steps... you ziped off and no sooner were you walking up a crapload of steps sweating and panting and really never had the time to stop and look at the sceenery... It was fun zipping but not climbing....On the site we booked from it did not mention how in shape you need to be... Our neighbors in the cabin above us did the ship sponsored zipline tour and said it was nowhere as extreme as what we had done... Not sure I would do it again...

The vendors near the port area were very aggresive and if you were looking for lets say a certain t-shirt in purple they had you come into their store and try and sell you anything but and then chase you running in front of you shoving other stuff in your face... They are willing to bargain, But they start off ridiculously high $28 and buy the time they are ready to sell they drop to about $8

Mazatlan

As mentioned by Bobbyd we had done A tour with Mazatlan Frank and this guy is awesome as is his tour, He gave us alot of hints about shopping and followed them... We Felt very safe with frank and he would even help us bargain in the stores.... This is were the vendors came in again... We stopped to see the cliff divers (not to be missed) But the vendors were like vultars they swarmed you stuffing there wares in your face and were almost chasing our bus as it left....

Cabo San Lucas

My wife and I had decided before we left on this cruise that we were going to Medano Beach and The office and did on the recommendation of friends of ours that have been there before... we were not hungry so we just walked the beach and it is A nice looking beach.... About the same we have here in Florida with one exception: The timeshare people, We just didn't look at them and or would say no thanks and that was that.... We met up with some in our group and sat off to the left side of the office and that is where the relentless vendors started again...

We would be in mid-conversation and have to constantly say no thanks, But it didn't end there the exact same people would circle and come back and keep it up like in the past 5 min we changed our minds or we didn't see you just 5 min ago....

Hint: If you have sun glasses wear them and at least the guy trying to sell them will leave you alone..My wife pointed this out and I took them out and wore them and they stopped:eek:

Hint: don't wear alot of jewlery... They think you have money and want more....

Summary

I really can't put my finger on it, But would have to say this if it makes any sense.... I feel that overall the only thing that was cosistent about this ship and crew was how consisent they were about being inconsistent

Overall on A scale of 1-10 I would give this cruise a 5 also, But individual wise I would give the golden princees as A ship a 7.... the food a 7 .... The service a 2 .... The ports a 4..... I can't and won't say that we won't sail princess again but may think twice... I can say that overall we did not like Mexico and will not return... I undersatand that the people who live there are a poor people and need to make a living, But at what expense to the tourist.. We are glad we went and saw how another culture lives, But we just prefer the Caribbean ports better and yes including Jamaica... Just an FYI We would go back to Hawaii again in a heartbeat

[bobbyd6363]

jagmanss - great follow up Steve!

I too enjoyed the comedian Kevin Hughes and caught both of his shows. It is NOT to be missed! We laughed ourselves sick! Also the No-So-Newlywed game was pretty darn funny! It simply amazes me the things that come out of people mouths when they are on the stage!

I also like your comment on the pool band. Yeah this was a MR cruise and I honestly thought the band should be more tailored to that theme but that is my opinion only. The thing that I took away from the pool band was the SACRELIGE they committed by playing a reggae version of the Eagles' HOTEL CALIFORMIA! OMG! I literally wanted to jump over the side! They slaughtered a classic!

Following (again) on the dining room service, I was surprised to see the table setup. Did you notice the lack of silverware? Typically you have a million forks, knives and spoons. On the GP last week we had ONE fork and ONE knife! And several times the waiter took it away with my plate and I had to ask for another one or steal it from another table.

flamomo (Mary Lou) - I am sooo sorry! I totally spaced and didn’t buy you a drink! Please forgive me! I will make it up to you!! I promise!! UGH! I feel like a jerk.

Nita - I totally believe that the auto-tipping and anytime dining has ruined service in the dining rooms. I have booked next years' Greek Isle cruise with traditional dining!

[DMorris]

though we always do the automatice tipping we also add a bit to those who are outstanding and I have also wondered how anyone would know. Do they have cameras all over the halls and cabins to catch crew members picking up a few extra bucks. What I have been told on another thread, if you remove the auto tip there is a list that becomes avaiable of those who have removed the tips. That is when management might question individuals. Apparently, if you leave the tip in place anything a crew member is given above and beyond they are allowed to keep.

 

Nita

 

I don't think that is so with the anytime dining servers... we didn't have an assigned table or server, so they wouldn't be able to know who we gave cash to or not. So that is a good thing for Jorge and Leo... :)

[klash1]

I also wanted to say that we also enjoyed our cruise tremendously...the line I spoke of in the buffet, was just to reiterate that lines sometimes happen...we weren't upset about it. This was one of the most relaxing vacations I've ever had...it was wonderful, lol.

 

 

 

On our sailing the week before, we also were back in our cabin before the sailaway.

 

 

 

We had Gerry too (E721 on the 10/27 sailing), and I have to agree...he was FANTASTIC!! He had our names (and correctly applied to the correct individual, lol), immediately and really took good care of us.

 

 

 

Yes, I think lox was available at breakfast most mornings on our sailing, although I have to say that I didn't specifically look for that. They didn't have an egg station per se, but my friend WAS able to get an omelet made to order every morning.

I see you folks were in cabin E721 on your cruise.

We are on Golden on Dec. 1/2007 in Cabin E727. Just wondering if you could give us some comments on how you liked the mini-suite.

[JustCruizeIt59]

Steve--Lets go to Hawaii--no damn vendors!

[dlp252]

I see you folks were in cabin E721 on your cruise.

We are on Golden on Dec. 1/2007 in Cabin E727. Just wondering if you could give us some comments on how you liked the mini-suite.

 

Well, I LOVE mini suites, and this was no different. I'd book this cabin again in a heartbeat. I love the extra room for the shower and it was great having extra counter storage space there.

 

We made good use of the sitting area and even the two TVs, lol.

 

I WILL say though that since this cabin was aft it was right above the thrusters (or whatever they call them) that propel the ship sideways. So, you'll probably feel vibration when pushing away from and coming alongside the dock area. This is not a deal breaker for me, and, again, I'd book this cabin without hesitation.

 

The cabin is also fairly close to the tenders, but I have to admit, I don't remember hearing them at all. I do sleep with earplugs in whenever I go on vacation, but I was awake and about when we tendered in Cabo, and don't remember hearing them. You'll be farther away from them.

 

It was nice to be so far aft...the traffic outside in the corridor is really minimal.

 

It was also nice to be nearer to the buffet, lol.

 

Our balcony was completely covered which was nice...we still had plenty of full sun.

 

Our cabin steward was Gerry and he was VERY nice and kept us well cared for.

[MamaTene]

Was on the cruise with the folks that have posted the review and have to agree with most everything stated but in spite of the "bumps in the road" we had a great time. Steaks at Desert Rose are not to be missed and the service is truly outstanding. Deserts are all good too..my favorite was the flan. They also have delicious crepes in Horizon.

Also not to be missed is the pizza, burgers and hot dogs by the pool...yummy and always hot!

If you are an ice cream lover, do try Scoops for one of there specialties. I had the Bananamama and it was huge and scrumptious. Well worth the $3.75.

The coffee on board that is free is made with syrup and just not to our liking at all. Found a bar on Deck 5 next to shore excursion desk that makes fresh brewed coffee ..cost $1.00 a large cup. They also make great lattes there.

[jagmanss1]

jagmanss - great follow up Steve!

 

I too enjoyed the comedian Kevin Hughes and caught both of his shows. It is NOT to be missed! We laughed ourselves sick! Also the No-So-Newlywed game was pretty darn funny! It simply amazes me the things that come out of people mouths when they are on the stage!

 

I also like your comment on the pool band. Yeah this was a MR cruise and I honestly thought the band should be more tailored to that theme but that is my opinion only. The thing that I took away from the pool band was the SACRELIGE they committed by playing a reggae version of the Eagles' HOTEL CALIFORMIA! OMG! I literally wanted to jump over the side! They slaughtered a classic!

 

Following (again) on the dining room service, I was surprised to see the table setup. Did you notice the lack of silverware? Typically you have a million forks, knives and spoons. On the GP last week we had ONE fork and ONE knife! And several times the waiter took it away with my plate and I had to ask for another one or steal it from another table.

 

flamomo (Mary Lou) - I am sooo sorry! I totally spaced and didn’t buy you a drink! Please forgive me! I will make it up to you!! I promise!! UGH! I feel like a jerk.

 

Nita - I totally believe that the auto-tipping and anytime dining has ruined service in the dining rooms. I have booked next years' Greek Isle cruise with traditional dining!

 

Thanks Bobby - Guess I should have wrote my own Review as I only wanted to start out with comments on what we and some of the others we were with in the other part of the group experienced, But found it easier following yours as I never wrote A Review before.... Besides may as well be on 1 thread anyway.......

Yes the Newlywed and not so Newlywed show was another good one and not to be missed.... man!!! Glad my wife didn't talk me into that one...She did try..... There are some things people say that just can't be made up as we saw... too funny

Glad you mentioned the silverware I forgot or lack there of... My wife had to ask for a fork at one dinner to eat her main course as they take it and don't replace it or replace it when they were never used.... I remember thinking I wanted to hide an extra set as it may have stopped that hand that would sneek off to the side out of nowhere and scare the crap out of me...LOL.... I think this was more confusing than having all of that silverware like on previous cruises.....

I forgot to mention the fries at the grill:eek: .... They were the most awesome fries I ever had and crave them still... Did I mention the Pizza was Awesome:D .... I think if some of the group had to hear or see me with pizza they were going to throw me over..... Don't take much to make this Floridian ex northerner who misses really good pizza happy....

The only thing about this cruise I regret not doing is going to the dining room for breakfast besides the last morning and having the eggs benedict that I didn't have nor did we ever go for lunch.... also wish we had gone for Breakfast in the Horizon Court more often instead of settling for danish, crossaint (whichever I would get) and bad coffee.... Hey at least it woke me up

 

Side note: The coffee in the Lobby bar IE: specialty coffee joint still don't know what it was called.... Don't waste your money on what they call special roast coffee (Normal Coffee) that used to be free here as it is about the same as what you get in your stateroom / buffet It was maybe a tad better but north worth spending extra$$$ for......

I also forgot to mention my other rating in my summary:

The whole group of people we were with a 10 + and priceless

[jagmanss1]

The coffee on board that is free is made with syrup and just not to our liking at all. Found a bar on Deck 5 next to shore excursion desk that makes fresh brewed coffee ..cost $1.00 a large cup. They also make great lattes there.

 

Hmm!!! Just goes to show how some may like it while we found it no better and we were with mamatene and never mentioned it..... The specialty coffees were good though....

[jagmanss1]

Steve--Lets go to Hawaii--no damn vendors!

 

Let's go you buying?:D I'll sell you something:D

[Purple Passion]

OMG was it ever strenuous for me anyway. It involves climbing, climbing, climbing. I am from FL & am not used to the high altitude, smoke & didn't realize I was SO much out of shape. The climbing involves very very STEEP steps & the platforms are NOT close together. You are BASICALLY on your OWN when climbing. :( The guide constantly had to ask if there was anybody else behind us. They DID NOT bother to check on anyone. :mad: The tour did prove bottled water at platform intervals THANK GOD! The actual zip lines were not that bad BUT make sure you LISTEN & PAY attention when they give you the brief/short instruction course before climbing! On the 1st zip line & stubbed my toe really bad but I could have BROKEN my leg if I had landed faster! If you are choosing the adventure in order to view the sites....FORGET it! You are traveling SO FAST & are so worried about stopping the correct way that there is NO time to site see. I'm glad I went, I'm glad I conquered BUT I will never do it again. I would rather travel by trolley or a airtram lift to view the sites....

[MamaTene]

Would love to do the canal for sure and of course Hawaii again is a no brainer!

Glad we took the time to do breakfast in the dining room as it was always served hot...too many items on the buffet at the Horizon court were just too blah for me. Did enjoy a few things though like the crepes, mushrooms, chicken strips etc

 

And you are right about the fries Steve...TO DIE FOR!!!!!

[JustCruizeIt59]

Steve--Please don't sell me your wallet!!!!