The Ship - Well, she's getting up there in her years. 2nd time on MS Maasdam. Still lovely however ceilings leak especially when it rained, air conditioning barely works in staterooms as well as public areas and water doesn't drain well in the tubs. Rusty in spots are apparent, she is certainly showing wear and tear. Oh and the very exciting 3 a.m. "wake-up there's smoke in the engine room" in about 20,000 feet of ocean was certainly a memorable and exciting experience!
The Staff - Hands down - wonderful, courteous, helpful and kind. Wonderful hard working folks. Applies to every venue.
The Food - This is personal preference certainly, but found most to be satisfactory in the Dining Room and Lido areas, good selections but hot food could be warmer in temperature. The salad area in the Lido was great. The Dive In Grill / Taco Bar was a welcome change. The HMC BBQ was nice as usual. Ice Cream bar had great variety. Canaletto, needs to go back to it's original menu. The Pinnacle was outstanding!! The desserts overall - earned a 10+. Pastry Chef to be commended - Everything different, everything wonderful. Shout-out to a lovely gal, Helena, she should be running the place.
Took ferry over to shopping area. Horrible. Everyone trying to panhandle, constantly barking a pitch. Over it.
Shopping unremarkable.
It was a Sunday, nothing was open. Took walk beyond port gates. Very sad and depressing. It felt unsafe. The vendors that were open at port were kind. Trusting someone helps these folks and makes this port a better destination as it is amazingly beautiful.
Shopping day again. Taxi drivers are the most aggressive in the islands. They know no boundaries with regard to personal space when leaving the port gates. They tell folks it's to far to walk to town. There is a fabulous shopping village with local handmade items within walking distance of the port. These taxi drivers will put them out of business. Go to the village, lots of great locally made items!
Whoops put review of Barbados in Martinique box.
Stayed by port - swam in crystalline water. Shopped for local wares. Great port.
Honestly wish we could stay there forever.
Embarkation went smooth as usual.