Our good friends picked the Norwegian Dawn for a Caribbean cruise leaving from San Juan. I thought Norwegian was a good name and all their boats would be up to snuff, but stay away from this one! We may try another Norwegian cruise, but I would recommend a newer boat and hopefully the shows, food, spa services, and boat condition will be much better. One of the biggest disappointments was the expensive Midship Balcony Cabin. The bathroom flooded into the stateroom, the drapes had holes and slashes in them, worked on areas were left uncovered, and the balcony had so much rust everywhere you looked. In addition, my wife had aterriblw experience from the expensive Spa services and had to be treated in the Ship's Hospital twice. Whatever you decide to do in cruising I have learned my lesson about taking an older ship. I just hope if we ever take another Norwegian cruise the ship will be newer and everything else will be better as well. This was my sixth cruise and first on Norwegian and at least on the Norwegian Dawn I would rate it much lower than any of the other cruise lines we have taken for room, entertainment, food, and other services. Read Less

We have cruised with Carnival for many years and they don't have many perks for long time cruisers so we decided to try NCL. So glad we did. The trip was awesome. We had a mini suite with balcony which was pretty spacious for 2 people. The bathroom was a little small with counter space but the tub/shower was great . No water on the floor. We left out of San Juan to Barbados, Antigua, st. Marten, st Kitts and St. Thomas. The staff was awesome . The food was great. The casino was a little cramped and would ha e liked a few more .25 machines. Embarkation and debarkation went smoothly. On and off within 1/2 hour. Even going ashore no lines leaving or returning to ship. Needless to say I will cruise NCL again.i am done with carnival. Our room steward was awesome we would leave and come back 1/2 later and room was done it was like he was hiding in the corner and knew we would be gone. Read Less

The pluses: staff were excellent except for a few who did their jobs but seemed reluctant. Cabin was good-like the location closer to aft on deck 10. The disappointments: no outside eating area especially for breakfast. Maybe it was just our cruise and the crowd, but by 10:30 it seemed everyone was in bed. The piano player and duet were talented entertainers but were done by 10 although the daily said "8:45 to close". I guess close is 10. The service in the specialty restaurants seems to be "get them out quick". While this might suit some, we prefer to dine a bit more leisurely. Nothing frustrates me more than my second course arriving while my first course is only 1/2 done. Or my wine arriving when I'm almost finished my meal. We learned to eat a bit later and to tell the server how we wanted our meal paced. We felt much more rushed than on the Jade or Breakaway. The location of Bistro and La Cucina is right outside the cigar lounge which opens to the inside. You knew you were getting close when the cigar/cigarette smoke smell greeted you. As well, the piano lounge is there. Bistro at least has a door, but when it opens the restaurant music competes with the piano player - very distracting. La Cucina is open to the lounge, and one evening we were accompanied by several audience members singing along. Good for them, but not for us. The ports were excellent and we had a good time, but we won't be on the Dawn again. Read Less

We really enjoyed the cruise. Normally we prefer the larger “fun” ships with NCL such as the Epic, Getaway and Escape but with five ports of call and only one day at sea it really didn’t matter not having the waterslides and other activities found only on these ships. Some (negative) general comments first. Although we still enjoy cruising with NCL, we have noticed increasing costs and certain cuts since we first started with them 6 years ago. Perhaps they are just following a trend in the industry but the changes have been noticeable. Some examples: - Adding a room service fee, first for overnight orders and now at all times. - Not allowing people to bring food to their room (thankfully that ended very quickly when it was announced!) - Not allowing people to bring non-alcoholic beverages on board. - Charging extra for certain dishes in the main dining rooms (looks like this was stopped) - Sharp increases in the cost of their drinks as compared to bars/restaurants on land. A couple of years ago they had these “premium” drinks such as a Dark and Stormy for $18 as compared to $12 for other drinks. These prices were not on the menu on this cruise. - Less interesting options at the buffet during theme nights. They had crab legs in the main buffet on our first cruise on the Epic. - Charging $2 more for the same volume of Heineken in a draft at O’Sheehan’s than what you get in the bottle. Both the glasses they use as well as the bottles are 12 oz. You can buy both! Maybe it is just me but I would have assumed a pint class would be used at a pub. I think it is important for passengers to provide their feedback, both positive and negative, directly to NCL for these and any other items you want to bring up. I normally do after each cruise! Now moving on! Itinerary - We started with one day at sea, followed by stops in Barbados, Antigua, St. Kitts, St. Maarten and St. Thomas. - We would have preferred having the sea day on our last day of cruising. Would have been a great way to relax after getting off the ship five days in a row. However, I think this would require reversing the order of the stops as Barbados is the furthest destination. The ship - As I mentioned earlier, the ship is smaller and doesn’t have the water slides, rope courses, climbing wall, large sports deck (though it does have a smaller one), etc that you will find on some of their bigger ships . - Some of the areas (such as the theater and main restaurants) were really cold, more so than I would normally expect on a cruise ship. It was mentioned by a number of other travellers we spoke with too. I would suggest bringing a shawl, light jacket, long sleeve shirts, etc. The theatre was probably the worst. Getting on and off the ship - Embarkation went smoothly. We boarded between 1:00 and 1:30, with our cabin being available within an hour or so. - Our cabin was on deck 5 which made if very convenient to get on and off the ship from deck 4 at each port of call. - Disembarkation was really easy and stress free. We used the self assist option so we were able to keep our bags with us overnight as opposed to leaving them out by 11 pm the night before. One major difference here with self assist is that we didn’t need to rush off the boat early as we have experienced on the Epic, Getaway and Escape when using this option. Transfers between the airport and the Pan American Pier - We spent the night in Isla Verde before the cruise and used an UberXL to get there for around $14. In general, Uber is an inexpensive and convenient way to travel around San Juan. - On the day you disembark, you have multiple options for the airport when you exit the terminal. - NCL’s is probably the most expensive of them all and I would not recommend it. - When you first leave the terminal, there will be a series of private shuttles charging $10 per person. They will also wait until they feel they have enough passengers. I would also suggest that you skip this option. - If you walk a little further, maybe 40 feet, you will find the regular taxi line. Fares are regulated and costs $21 plus $1 per piece of luggage to the airport. You will first speak to a dispatcher who will provide you with a paper confirming the cost. On our day, there was an exception where they were adding an extra $3.50 because the usual route to the airport was closed due to construction. - It does appear that Uber is an option but the fares at the time were similar and involved a bit of wait before a car could arrive. Cabin - We were on deck 5 with a window. Note, on deck 4 the windows are portholes. - We were three, 2 adults and a child. There is a bunk bed that folds out from the wall. I don’t see how a second child could be accommodated in this cabin as there is no convertible sofa or anything and little to no room for an extra cot. - There are plenty of drawers (6) as well as some shelves in the closet. However, we still found it useful having brought magnetic hooks as well as some extra hangers. Food - We find the food at the complimentary restaurants to be more than sufficient for us so we don’t typically eat at any of the speciality options. - Of the two main dining rooms, we preferred Aqua over the Venetian. This has nothing to do with the food since they have the same menu but rather we found the service to be faster. Not sure if this has anything to do with the fact it is smaller. - The food at O’Sheehan’s was excellent. - The food is also excellent at Bamboo but reservations are required if not at least recommended. - We had supper one night at the buffet. It was ok but it is not as good as we experienced six years ago when we first started cruising on NCL. The theme nights and associated options just seemed better back then to be honest. - There is room service but NCL charges a convenience fee of close to $8 per order. When we first started cruising with them, there was no fee. Then they added one for overnight orders which looks like they have extended to all hours. Bars – pay attention to the glass size used for drafts at O’Sheehan’s - Didn’t really hang out at any of the bars on this trip but we did have supper one night at O’Sheehan’s, where the food is very good and is complimentary. - They only had two beers on tap, one of them Heineken. I would have expected more at a pub to be honest. - Note, they are serving their draft beer in 12 oz glasses, not 16 oz (pints) that you would normally be accustomed to at a pub. You can also order Heineken in 12 oz bottles. - For some reason, the same size in a draft costs $2 more than the bottle. The reasoning provided was that the quality is better with the draft something that I don’t agree with when it comes to beers like Heineken. I wished I had noticed the size before ordering the draft. Activities - The fitness centre is more spacious on the Dawn as compared to the bigger ships. You don’t have that cramped feeling. - The jogging track is on deck 13 and also has less traffic than what I am accustomed to on the Getaway and Escape. - On deck 7, you can walk, not run, along the promenade all the way around the ship. - For the first time we played shuffleboard. Our child was really into it and became his new ping pong obsession/replacement while onboard. There are two on deck 7 and one on deck 13. - Speaking of ping pong, there are two tables on deck 13 near the sports deck. However, they are in a spot that receives a lot of wind when the ship is moving so it really affects the ball. Pool, hot tubs and chairs - There is one pool and four hot tubs on deck 12. There is an additional hot tub at the front of the ship on deck 13. - The kids’ area at the back of the ship has another hot tub as well. - We didn’t have any problems finding chairs either in the sun or in the shade during our one sea day. Entertainment - The production shows are not at the same level as the ones we’ve experienced on the Epic, Getaway and Escape. If you are expecting something similar then you will be disappointed. - The comedian on the other hand was fantastic. He had two nights of shows in the main theatre, one family friendly and one 18+ and both were great. There is no separate comedy club having nightly shows. Splash Academy – Kids club - There weren’t as many children on this cruise and consequently not many using Splash Academy, including ours. - The staff members were really friendly and trying to get children involved but I can see how with few other kids around at the kids club, your child may not want to spend much time there. - Luckily, ours was meeting people on the sports deck and playing with them after getting back on board at the end of the day. Read Less

Planned this cruise about a year out based on some friends that were going to be onboard with us. They didn't end up making it but we still decided to go based on the itinerary. We flew into San Juan 3 days before the cruise and we were able to enjoy the island before getting to the ship. Glad we did, because this time of year is known for bad weather. We were also informed on the first and only sea day that some had missed the ship in PR because of the weather delays and were having to catch the ship in Barbados. One more reason why I would never recommend flying on the same day. On embarkation day, I will say this is the smoothest and quickest that I have ever boarded a cruise. We arrived at the port about 20 minutes before our scheduled 12:00 boarding. Waited just a few minutes to drop off our bags and then through security. Once inside, we were immediately waited on to get our room keys and then proceeded directly upstairs. Past cruises we have had to wait to be called in groups. Not so this time as we boarded the ship immediately. We were onboard before noon and even had to wait for the Venetian dinning room to open for lunch. They made several announcements that rooms would be ready between 2-2:30, however, I think they actually had them ready right at 2 which was great as we were able to get right in with little wait time. Now, for the ship itself and itinerary: - This is one of the smaller ships in the NCL fleet so it was not hard to get around. And crowds weren't as bad as they sometimes are on the bigger ships. - We had a balcony room on deck 10 and it was worth every bit of it. Small, but still plenty of room for what the two of us needed. Which was a place to sleep, shower, and relax for a little bit. - Richard Matic (cruise director) was everywhere. Him and his crew did an awesome job at bringing the entertainment. - With the exception of breakfast, NCL continues to impress me with the food. Either this ship didn't offer it, or NCL changed some recipes on breakfast. In the buffet, the omelets were too greasy, and the pancakes tasted like they had been sitting out way too long. Some other little things had also changed about the breakfast but overall, meals were fantastic. - Would have liked at least one more sea day on the back end or in the middle, as this was filled with 6 ports in the 7 days. - Antigua was probably one port that we could have done without. This was the one of two ports (St. Thomas) that we decided not to do an excursion on and I wish we would have. Not a whole lot to see or do on the island without an excursion. Also the poverty on the island was sad to see and that was just outside the port. Spoke with others that had done an island tour and they had said it only got worse the further away from St. Johns. - Other ports along the way were fantastic. Even while some were still recovering from the hurricanes, they still offered a lot. Overall, would go again on NCL. Would more than likely not go on the Dawn again unless it was the itinerary that I was looking for. I personally like the ships that are a little bigger and offer more to do. Read Less

Well, we chose this cruise for the itinerary and having sailed 3 other NCL ships we tried the Dawn, ship is old and showing age, you feel a lot of movement with this ship. We were in a mini-suite on deck 10. The rooms are tattered, our cabin steward was terrible, left trash, no tissues, no toilet paper, had to go to the hallway and get it myself off the cart, wanted ice and he told me it would take 20 minutes. if your not tipping the bartenders up at topside every time they bring you a drink they don't come back. Nothing happening on pool deck, no BBQs, same cold dry burgers, chicken, hot dogs. Venetian and Aqua were okay, but get quite boring, buffet was poor, food always seemed cold. Crew is not a happy group like on other NCL ships, does not make you feel welcome. I will not cruise the Dawn again and may not cruise with NCL anymore. Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the itinerary + price that included some great extras. While we had a 4th FL room w/ only a porthole, we found it quite advantageous to avoid crowds and exit/enter very easily from the ports - they were on our floor. However, get an inside room, being right next to the exits can be quite noisy early in the morning. Overall we had a great cruise. While I wouldn't consider myself a cruiser, it is great for last minute planning if the ports are good. However, since we had the prepaid beverage/dining plan, we felt it was gluttonous and would likely not take those options again. While it was of course our own decisions, we really felt obligated to eat/drink even when we weren't hungry. It's hard to return from an excursion then wait until 8:00 to dine, so of course we had a bite in the buffet, bad idea! The steakhouse and French restaurants were the best, in line w/ the reviews. We also enjoyed the Asian restaurant, the churrascaria could be passed on. The staff was great, appreciated the focus on cleanliness and service. Our room was fine, helped to get so many extras with our package. So here are my 2 beefs. 1) I read all my materials so thought I was sure that we had most costs covered. Surprise - they now have a daily per person service charge to cover ship employees who do not receive tips. I am glad they pay good wages, but I am still very sore that this was not included upfront, very sore. 2) I feel like I was up-sold to fill an excursion that was only mediocre. The gentleman told me the Golden Eagle Sail & Snorkel was the best snorkeling on the trip. It was a great catamaran but sad, sad snorkeling. When I complained about the parts I did not enjoy, nothing was done. Had I known that St Thomas was THE place to snorkel, I would have gladly bought that excursion. Next time I'll do my research and likely book elsewhere for a more reasonable price. At every port, we found better options for full or half day tours of the island highlights. Read Less

NCL Dawn, March 3 to March 10. Mini-Suite Rm 11676 I’ll preface my critique noting that this was my first NCL cruise, but I’ll also add that I’ve cruised on Carnival and Royal Caribbean. First, boarding (mainly cause our departure was at 9:00pm) was very quick and easy - as I boarded at 1:00pm. Food in the Garden Cafe was available, and our room became available at approximately 3:00pm. We also booked three specialty dinning options, and our reservation times were all met. Teppanyaki: By far was my favorite. Great service, outstanding food from the edamame, fried rice and sea food selection was all worth it. Cagney’s: Was a close second on favorites. Great porterhouse steak. Le Bistro: Although the least favorite, it was worth the up charge. As for other food options, the Garden Cafe was OK - but not bad. The Venetian, Aqua and Bamboo were all good options if not at the specialty dinning location. Also, classy touch to provide appetizers at the casino later in the evening. We booked a few excursions, however the one that stood out was ANUD1011 Kayak & Snorkel Adventure on Antiqua. At $70.00 per person, we believe this excursion gave the most bang for the buck. Besides a ride thru the countryside, we kayaked thru the man grooves, hiked to a mountain top to view the Atlantic Ocean, then snorkeled. After our boat back to catch a bus back to the ship, water, rum punch and snacks we available. What really stood out was the professionalism and work ethic of the staff. Never a let down throughout the cruise - always courteous, and providing great service. The other thing that stood out was the ship never felt over crowded, and lines were minimal and always moved. If there was any negatives, general announcements were very hard to hear. The smoking room which was located on the sixth floor, sometimes leaked smoke into the bar area - and can be a bit overwhelming for non-smokers. Lastly, our Cabin Steward was very good, and besides the normal gratuities, I gave him an additional tip in person - but he didn’t seem happy. Not sure if I’m reading him wrong, or he was insulted. Overall, an oddly laid out ship really became its strength and appeal. And I took advantage of almost all of the ship, from sunning and swimming, sitting on my personal deck, multiple dinning locations, bars and gambling too - With my experience being excellent. I miss it, and would book another NCL cruise again. Read Less

The Honest Truth About Cruises By David Budnick Everything is a scam on this boat. We arrived to our room the first day to find it to be about the size of a coffin; for the $1800 price tag for only 6 nights, Iʼd say this is the price for suckers. We specifically booked an ocean view room to have fresh air through the window. Well, come to find out, the window does not open at all, and there is absolutely no ocean view. The window was the size of a human head, and absolutely nothing was viewable through it. Despite this, we had a “queen” bed (which is actually two twin beds pushed together, so forget any vacation cuddling with your significant other). I called due to being claustrophobic and wanting to upgrade to a balcony stateroom, which they pleasantly declined and said “we are sorry, what you got is what you get.” Such professionalism. Still, we had a shower and toilet, and could “make it through” our vacation just fine by spending adequate time on the outside decks where there is actual air. You must know, you will be exceptionally cold while on board though. The air conditioning is cranked to maximum throughout the entire ship. So be prepared for this when switching between the deck and the cabin, as you will go from a beautiful natural, warm ocean air, to a disgusting and cramped stuffiness. If youʼre seeking metaphors, think meat freezer, or the temperature of a morgue. It was cranked so high, that our skin dried from the inside out, and a 12 year old we traveled with had asthma issues for the first time in years. I wonder why they keep the air conditioning at this level, maybe it is a preference of the typical “cruiser,” but in my experience it was awful. Still, the unbreathable air was not the worst aspect yet. The food, oh the food! How unreliable cruisecritic.comʼs advice was for preparing ourselves. They must be in bed with Norwegian Cruise Line for praising the food on the Dawn. How anyone could compliment such atrocities to cuisine is beyond me. I have NEVER in my entire life been more disgusted with the food I was forced to eat, through having no other choice. Norwegian Cruise food must be acceptable to those who eat microwaved frozen dinners, for that is exactly what we were fed. There is something extremely creepy about the fancy decor of each restaurant, having them lavish us with respect by placing our towels on our laps, treating us like royalty, and then serving us microwaved frozen egg rolls on ceramic dinner plates. They give you the illusion of being served edible, real food, with the presentation of their “specialty” restaurants, but this is not the case. The Italian restaurant, La Cucina, sold us the same frozen cracker pizza that was served in the cafeteria for free, for a price tag of $16! How embarrassing to everyone involved! I never knew placing one basil leaf on the top of a frozen pizza made it worthy of serving in a restaurant. Besides the Morderno, which was very good, but booked full with no vacancy after our first night on the cruise, the majority of the specialty restaurants seemed like your typical “fake fancy” scam. Well, “at least you had time to relax,” is one thing you may be thinking to yourself. Ha! The cruise line is in your face every step of the way; from every turn on the cruise ship to swarming you with offers the second you step off the boat. This was the least relaxing vacation of my life. Money, money, money. “Do you want a picture?” “Do you want a shore excursion?” “Taxi?” “Do you want to jet ski?” “Do you want to give us any cash you have on you for no particular reason whatsoever?” “No.” “I want you to leave me alone.” Now, let me get to the thick of it. The cruise line is NOT your friend. I am convinced if they could charge you for the air you breathe, they would. EVERYTHING has a price. They come up to you during your dinner and BEG you to take YOUR picture. They are literally harassing you while you eat. Now, after they have thoroughly interrupted your meal, they say “Iʼll come back during dessert to show you.” Wouldnʼt any friend take your picture for free? Wouldnʼt even a stranger youʼre passing by in the street be happy to snap a picture of you and your significant other? Well, when the cruise line returns, they have a gigantic printed and framed picture of you that they will charge you $25 dollars for. Who has any use for an object like this? Who has $25 dollars to spend on one picture? How do I even post this picture to my instagram? I canʼt even upload it! Donʼt they realize these days people are taking thousands of pictures at no cost to them via the cell phones in their pockets, and actually putting them to immediate use? The answer is no. No, we wonʼt send you a digital copy for free. No. We donʼt care about you. All we want is your money. And that is totally fine. Itʼs a business. But do you truly have the desire to be treated like this while on vacation? I think this is an important question to ask yourself before booking. And please donʼt look for ways to justify it, because there are none. There are endless options out there, and you will betreated like an actual human going elsewhere on a vacation. Even JetBlue flights offer free movies. On the ship, you will be spending ten dollars a piece, to watch one movie on a 15 inch screen 15 feet away from you. Drinking water is two dollars a bottle, and you are not allowed to bring any on board with you. Beers are around $12 after tax & tip! Shall we continue? Letʼs talk about WiFi. As unfortunate as it is to admit, WiFi is becoming a commodity, especially to the younger travelers. Well, for only $89.95 you can have access to just your SOCIAL MEDIA, per person. Or, you can splurge and get 100 minutes of all access internet for $75. The timer though, counts two seconds for every second real time, so 100 minutes would be more like $150. I am fairly certain, that almost every hotel, bar, restaurant, etc on earth has WiFi for free. Not the case here folks. And when you purchase it, make sure youʼre happy not using it, because it resembles the speed of a dial up 56k modem, and hardly works at all. You could instead, take your money, put it in the toilet, close the cover, and press flush. And please donʼt get me started on the toilets, but the reeking stench that spreads from stern to bow, is still more forgivable than the food they serve. One night, to get our money worth, we ordered just about everything on the room service menu, for a convenience charge of only $7.95. Thinking we finally had the upper hand, we awaited in excitement to finally feel like we had a win on this vacation. Oh boy, were we wrong! And such fools we were to think this. The bread of the triple decker peanut butter and jelly from the kids menu (first of all, what kind of human being wants their kids to eat a TRIPLE DECKER peanut butter and jelly?) was completely stale. The Caesar salad was like water & mayo dumped on lettuce. And speaking ofmayo, they decided to spread this particular condiment all over the hotdog........... “what?” You heard me right. So after eating about three dollars and fifty cents worth of food, we felt scammed yet again. Besides all this, the crew is very nice, almost in a scary way. Has Norwegian snatched their passports and imprisoned them, only to let them free if they smile at every customer for 8 months straight? I donʼt have answers to these questions, but it sure does feel like something fishy is going on. And speaking of fishy, hopefully fishy shower water doesnʼt bother you, because I didnʼt feel clean after a single one. But anyway, itʼs been nice chatting. I hope your vacation experience with Norwegian is better than mine. If youʼre the type of person who likes frozen dinners, $12 cans of beer, and people who smile in your face even though they secretly hate you, then Iʼm sure youʼll have the time of your life! Read Less

This ship left from San Juan, Puerto Rico. We flew the night before the ship was to leave and stayed at The Waves Hotel, which was reasonably priced and a cab ride away from the airport. The hotel was right off the highway, so it was a bit noisy, but our sound machine drowned out most of the noise. The sheets were rough, but the bed itself was comfy. There was also a twin bed in our room, as well as a refrigerator and a large bathroom. The curtains blocked out light, which is important to me. In the morning, there was breakfast on the rooftop, which had a good selection of continental type breakfast items and was well taken by 3 attendants. Check out was at 11, which gave us enough time to pack after breakfast. We boarded the ship around 12 on the Pan-American Pier, ate lunch and went to the Bacardi distillery via Uber(around $10). Although we had been to San Juan before we had only visited Old San Juan, El Morro(fort) and El Yunque(National Park), and decided it was time to check out Bacardi. The $15 admission fee included a rum drink(choice of 1 of 4), which was quite strong, a souvenir cup and a tour of the museum. The was also an excellent view of the ocean and El Morro. We had one day at sea. We slept in and missed the 10:00 intro show on excursions, which we generally like to attend. Breakfast was served until 11:30, which is much later than other ships we have sailed on. We found plenty to do with trivia, an art auction and the best martini tasting session($19.95) where we sampled 6 (3.5 oz each) different martinis at Cagney's. If you want to do this, make sure you sign up on the first day at any of the bars, as seating is limited(although we witnessed 3 or 4 different people joining us without signing up previously-I think they take up to 20 participants). Each day brought us to a different port. DAY ONE-ST. LUCIA Beautiful mountainous tropical island with 2 picturesque mountains-the Pitons. We took our only excursion through the cruise ship-The Land and Sea- which took us on a tour of the island and a catamaran ride back to the ship. The only problem was we went to toward the Pitons, which is also towards the rainforest, and it rained off and on while we walked on a plantation(where we ate lunch), went to a waterfall, then boarded the catamaran. My advice to you, is if you want sunny skies and no rain, stay on the north side of the island. Although we had a great time and learned a lot about the island, it would have been better without the rain. The cost of the excursion was $99/person and lasted for 6 hours. DAY TWO-BARBADOS We took a taxi ride around the island. We met up with another couple and paid $75 a couple to see the sights, narrated by the driver. We saw several beautiful beaches, the oldest church on the island, and panoramic views. Our tour lasted 3 hours. DAY THREE-ANTIGUA We took a taxi to see the sites, with a family of 7 joining us. It cost us $25/person for a 4 hour tour and we to the beach as well as to Shirley Heights, which has the remnants of an old fort and magnificent views. DAY FOUR-ST. THOMAS We took a taxi to Sapphire Beach and went snorkeling. There were changing/restrooms, a tiki bar and rental booth for snorkeling gear, which we rented for 2 hours for $8/each. Last time we went to St. Thomas, we went to Coki Beach(near Coral World), which had the same amenities and much more fish. The water at Sapphire was a bit cloudy, but it may have been the overcast weather causing this. DAY FIVE-TORTOLA Our first time here and our favorite of all the islands we visited. We took a 3 hour tour for $25/person, which included an hour at the beach with soft white sand and beautiful views. The water was calm and clear, although we did not see any fish and did not go snorkeling. The ship is easy to get around except for the dining rooms which cut several floors into pieces-you can't get there from here..... The food was good, and even though they had different dessert choices every night, none were to die for. We ate at the buffet for breakfast and lunch and at the Aqua for dinner, where the staff were friendly and attentive. There is food from 6am-2am.....but from 12-2am you have to eat at the Oceania or order room service, which now has a $7.95 service fee. The shows are mediocre except for the magic show which was amazing and the last night's show, Elements, which was incredible. Read Less