BACKGROUND: My Husband and I are avid travelers and have experienced practically every mode of transportation over the many years of adventures we’ve taken across the globe. But cruising for us have become an inherent part of our lives and it really works for us. We like the selection of itineraries and also the accommodation options. And, after nearly 50 cruises between the two of us, we’ve graduated to elite status on a couple of cruise lines and almost always opt for large suites during our travels. We personally feel our accommodations are one of the most important features of our many trips (whether it be on a cruise ship, hotel or other domicile).

For this trip, we opted for one of the Owner’s Suites. We’ve had this category of cabin before and really loved it on previous trips so it was an easy option for us once we looked at the available choices. However, we experienced more noteworthy issues on this trip than we have on any other cruise we’ve taken over the years. So many in fact that we started a list early in the week. This review is based on those notes. We’ve tried to categorize our thoughts to make it easier to reference.

DEPARTURE EMBARKATION FROM FT. LAUDERDALE (Sunday, October 25, 2015): We had no issues checking in and getting our SeaPass Card. However, the staff were immediately perplexed when I reminded them we were in an Owner’s Suite and that we were supposed to have an escort to the ship. It took our representative at the counter and a supervisor to figure out this arrangement. After calling someone on the walkie talkie, a gentlemen showed up and said that he didn’t usually do this part of the disembarkation but was happy to take us on board. He also said that he had no idea where the person was that was supposed to have come down for us. We appreciated that he was stepping up to pick up the slack for someone else’s lack of attention. We were taken on board and let loose just as we passed through the security ID check. We are fine to be on our own and get to the suite on our own but in the past, someone usually took us to either the concierge lounge or directly to our cabin. This process seemed to fall short of what we expected. Read more