This was a Christmas cruise to Catalina and Ensenada. Not very exotic and they did double the normal rates - but it is something nice at XMAS.

The cabin was roughly the size of most cruise ships we have traveled. Room was unadorned and very plain. It was clean. AC was not thermostatically controlled, rather and adjustment dial for force of air only. Ample closet space. The main bed was raised enough to store normal suit cases underneath which is a nice touch. Desk was not very big. Window was normal size but not very clean. Bathroom was about the size of other ships but had only one small shelf above the sink. Shower was adequate. Had wall mounted body soap and shampoo dispensers only. However, the room was set up with a king and two bunks. The steward pushed back the bunks and brought in a cot. My wife called Guest Services and spoke with Filip who told her that is the best they can do (problem is that the folded back bunk frame takes some of the room size away). She thought it a safety hazard. While we were ashore the supervisor came into the room and found the bed arrangement fine but they confiscated our one foot tall Christmas tree as a potential safety hazard. I did call Filip that the plug was labeled UL approved and if it were a problem simply unwind the lights (likely a 15 second task) and return the unadorned tree but he said no (we did see plenty of other guest rooms with XMAS lights). I would have simply accepted this but a staff member (anonomous) indicated it might be retaliation for lodging a complaint about the room.

Readers will likely consider safety first and so would I. The only reason I mention this incident is that it displayed a similar cold, stoic and production line mentality I saw throughout the cruise. For example, in the dinning room we felt like it was a get them in, get them out fast attitude. They did not even recognize a birthday despite our mentioning it to the waiter and head waiter. Read more