|
Positives: Room steward - knowledgeable, attentive.
Dinning room: Moseis and Felix were efficient and personable. They handled late arrivals and indecision with proper manners and made us feel at ease.
Cold soups were wonderful.
Arrival at the ship was smooth with short waits at security and check-in.
Negatives: No lobster night, unless you paid extra.
Seaview Cafe is pizza and panini. No more fish and chips.
No more 24 hour buffet.
After midnight there is a room service charge.
Stage shows with song and dance numbers emphasised LOUD. Could always hear the drums, but not often the piano, violins. Dancers were mechanically good, but choreography needs work.
Poker tournament table needs to be moved (not enough room in the sports bar) and the game must be better managed, Only one dealer (Nicolette(?)) keep away the smokers, rail birds leaning on players' chairs, and enforced "English only" and no hand discussion until the end.
Departures fell behind schedule. I was in the last group, scheduled for 8:30, but we were not called away until 9:30. I could not find my bags in the departure hall. A baggage handler offered, "Oh, didn't they tell you; if you are in an airport transfer group, your bags have already gone to the airport?"
The airport bus driver arrived at the correct terminal, but at the departure level and not the arrival level. Got a tour of the roads and ramps. The good news is that most of the bags had been picked and there was a reduced amount of silliness. However, the bag handlers still push all the bags together so that one can not walk among the rows and columns (because there are none. Just one mass of bags pressing together and your bag and my bag are in the center of the mass).
Ship's company did an excellent job. The problems are with the administration types who appear to be pinching pennies by cutting short services and offerings. Most of the ship's company appears to understand the logistics of working with 2,000 people. I think the office workers who may be making the schedules and decisions away from the ship do not understand.
The Flam railway was disappointing. Too many people in small cars; windows did not open (not good on a 65F+ afternoon); our leader with the lollipop sign did not know which car was for his group (and in general did not appear to know what to do); cold rubber waffle lunch in a packed hot room was not good (tour guides and hotel staff left us to our own methods of distributing coffee and waffles); guide person in my train car could not be heard. Would have been cheaper and more efficient if I had booked a round trip at the Flam train station.
|
