Overall, we had a great time. This three night cruise was from Los Angeles, CA to Ensenada, Mexico. Guests that were vaccinated were given wrist bands that identified you as "fully vaccinated". On board the ship, there were "vaccinated only" sections clearly marked, however, this wasn't enforced. There was no obvious checking of wristbands. After the first day, guest without the wrist bands were commonly seen in vaccinated only sections and we did not see any enforcement. This didn't seem to be a big issue because the ship was not full. But, made us wonder why they even issue them if they didn't enforce it.

Our biggest concern was that approximately half the passengers went on excursion in Ensenada. This means that the pre-cruise testing no longer mattered because half the passengers could have been exposed and could have brought the virus back on the ship. For a three day cruise, perhaps not a huge issue, but on a longer multi-stop itinerary, this could be a big issue. Perhaps this is what happened with the Symphony and Odessey this week. We feel this will remain a huge challenge for all cruises. How can they eliminate exposure once they let people off the ship?? Yes, they did require everyone getting off to be on a cruise sponsored excursion, but even with that, there is no guarantee against exposure. To me, this puts the whole ship at risk.

On the plus side, the ship seemed clean. Staff were often seen cleaning during the cruise. Our cabin attendant was excellent as were the bar staff. The shows were fabulous and the very well done. They required reservation for all shows and all shows had limited attendance as they were doing their best to ensure some social distancing between groups. We opted for unlimited dining package and ate in all the specialty restaurants. The food was excellent in all three restaurants and social distancing was enforced. We passed on the windjammer cafe this cruise. Read more