We arrived in Miami on Wed night and stayed at the Courtyard at the airport. On Thursday we did the hop on hop off in Miami.

We chose this cruise for price and itinerary. Very long lines for embarkation. First about 30 minutes outside in the hot sun, and then inside in a maze for about an hour in a very hot building. Worst cruise port I have experienced. Once onboard we went to Versailles dining room for lunch. Rooms were available by the time we finished eating. Stateroom 8162 ocean view was adequate. The bathroom was ridiculous. For some reason they thought the toilet needed a sliding door! A see thru door! Very small, possibly smaller than an airplane toilet! Our steward Joao did a good job, but we hardly ever saw him and met him the third day. Only had five towel animals in 14 days. We liked Aqua dining room much better at dinner. Smaller and better service. We ate breakfast often at O’Sheehans. Menu items aren’t exactly what you expect, but good enough. We spent quite a bit of time in the Java Cafe. Comfortable chairs and often music. Also you could see out both sides of the ship there. At 10am on sea days there was a meeting in Ginza for knitters and stitchers. We both had hand sewing along and met some nice ladies who were knitting or crocheting. In the evenings we sat in Gatsby’s and listened to Felicia play piano and sing. She was quite good.

We had a problem with excursion tickets. We both bought three online before the cruise. Upon arrival my roommate had tickets but none for me. Miami made an error. I had to repurchase on my onboard account even though I had used Amex. She had used a visa and that purchase was cancelled for some reason. After three days it got corrected. She had a credit on her account that they transferred to my onboard account and she then had to repurchase! Cherryl Cruz in Excursions was really a big help! I have been on many cruises, in fact a prior one on the Star. I have never seen so many problems with public restrooms! There was always at least one toilet in each restroom out of order and sometimes all of them! There was a gal who spent all of her time unclogging and cleaning restrooms! The shows were very good. We saw all but magic and hypotism. The showroom is awful! Seats are low, very close together ( no leg room) and long rows so you had to keep gettin up to let someone in or out! We went early and sat in balcony after a few uncomfortable times. Read more