We really enjoyed how friendly and helpful the crew was on this holiday cruise. From BK's inspiring Christmas service to the kind smile and patience of our cabin steward Imade, the attitude of the crew was familial and polite. I was glad to see Santa as soon as we stepped on to the ship and I loved seeing the grinch dancing with the Fun Squad at the deck party on our first night. We enjoyed that at our evening meal our daughter was given extra servings of her favorite food (conch fritters) without even asking and we loved having the magician visit our table. Every area of the ship was clean and orderly and the Christmas decorations and music were tasteful and fun. Holiday movies in the Cole Porter lounge were a great way to relax at the end of the day and it seemed like they had just put out a lot of new games in the Mark Twain library, although we were pretty busy playing with the Boggle Slam cards we won at Hasbro the Game Show.
I regret that the Camp Ocean activities were not attractive to my daughter this time around, so I didn't get as much one-on-one time with my husband as I have had on other ships. I also was slightly disappointed when I attended a yoga class that was less organized that I expected--I probably wouldn't choose to do that activity again.
I really enjoyed the Princess Cay excursion and would love to return to that beach again soon for some really easy and rewarding snorkeling. Our Atlantis excursion was a little overwhelming--too much to do with too little time to do it all! The food at Atlantis gave us indigestion, but the servers were very friendly. The shark slides were amazing--definitely a highlight for all three of us. I also enjoyed the river rapids ride--nothing lazy about that experience!