We choose different destination from previous years, te cruise was lovely despite the harvoc we are going through in the world one thing that was so so horrible is that I booked 2 cabins and to be placed at 14007 another ar 12019 when later the next day after having requested that we are placed in the same floor then the is a cabin available when we have already unpacked-now that was not nice at all at all..food was lovely, but this time is was not so clean, the lifts were forever dirty,finger prints on mirrors on the rails etc....rooms were made but not as neat as with Musica - staff not so friendly especially on the last days you could swear that they were frustrated, didnt portray full willingness except for the ones that working at the dining rooms - it felt as if the customer care downgraded a bit - please, at reception woow you just do not find any friendliness just people with a straight face no friendliness at all - please do encourage your staff as much as possible because we takr these trips for relaxing, to be away from all the stress-either than that all went well.thank you Read Less

Let me first say the entertainment, stateroom attendant and dining room waiters were great! However........ Don’t forget to pack your patience! We planned this trip for our four teenagers during spring break. We decided to not cancel and move forward despite the coronavirus. Which we probably should had canceled but we decided to give it a shot. Huge disappointment. First disappointed was not being able to upgrade our room despite 900+ canceling. We tried to upgrade all 3 staterooms and were told only one room “maybe” could upgrade and they will contact us. Which they never did! We wanted to stay together with our children and that was not even an option. The rooms were very outdated. Did not have refrigerators as expected. We have a diabetic daughter who requires a fridge for her insulin and it was not in the room as requested. We ended up receiving a car type plug in cooler. Very disappointing. There was no water readily accessible. The closet door was falling off. WiFi was horrible and overpriced. We had to go visit the guest relations desk at least a dozen times. Half the time you are screaming your issue due to the loud music at the centrum. Bad place for the guest relations desk. It was very hard to understand most of the staff but luckily we had a young lady that tried to handle what she could. They allowed charges on our account despite being flagged not too. Guest relations was not worried about customer satisfaction. You could tell they are used to complaints. They did not react. We shared our disappointment but was obvious they did not care. The food was terrible. The only half way descent food was in the main dining but the portions were small and very bland. However, The waiters were very friendly and did a great job accommodating our gluten free daughter. They treated her very good. Her every food needs were met! The buffet was terrible. There were not many options unless you want to pay for it. Alcohol drinks were watered down. 700 dollars for two. And barely any alcohol in the drinks! The only two fun things for the teenagers were both closed the entire trip. The rock wall and the bungee trampoline were closed. There was not even a basketball court. Just a pool for the kids...no slide. Not much at all. I can’t imagine how crowded the pool would had been if the 900 people that cancelled would had showed up. It was packed. Very small pools. Sure wish we would had done our research. This ship is not very kid friendly and is very old with limited food eateries (that are included in price). The entertainment for adults was good. Most staff members were very friendly. We have an Alaskan cruise schedule in July and will be canceling. We only booked this cruise since we had the Alaskan cruise already booked since last year and wanted to stay with one cruise line. We have cruised with Carnival in the past and will travel with them again. Beware…they charged our account the very last day 125.00 for towels which we returned all our towels. They do not give you anything stating how many you borrow and return so you are relying on the attendant to enter the correct information. They did take the charges off but I can only imagine what a mess it would had been to fix this error after the cruise. This was done the last night of the cruise and luckily I noticed early enough to dispute it. Cozumel was very nice and we seemed safe however progreso was very sketchy. I would not recommend getting off the ship there. Read Less

Wife and I “avoided” sailing Celebration as so many people have left negative reviews. Stepping onboard we expected little. Boy we were pleased by the condition of the ship. Not long out of dry dock and a upscale upgrade she’s looking great. A new mega ship she’s not, but for the payed for price a bargain. A production show each night plus a late night 18plus show $6.50 draft beer what a bargain. Dinner and a buffet worth the fare and and extra charge steakhouse with mouth tender steaks to please anybody. Freeport? The only real bummer of the cruise maybe just stay onboard or walk to Carlos and Charlie’s next door. Did you pay to be onboard? You get your monies worth. Did you do the free cruise for a high pressure Timeshare sale? Probably still worth it just more painful. Need fireworks on your cruise please avoid this Ship! Like a good time on a budget? This is your ship Read Less

I have cruised MSC before many years ago and had a good experience. I have also cruise with Carnival 6-7 times, Princess, Holland America and Royal Caribbean. I realized very quickly this cruise line was not the experience I was looking for as an American. I booked this cruise because the dates worked for my step-daughter's spring break and because the prices were great, and free drinks and wifi package. We tried to cancel our cruise due to the sudden Coronavirus onset just a few days before leaving but we were unable to reach anyone after a long phone wait. When we arrived the port crew was extremely unfriendly and I immediately felt uncomfortable. I felt as though I had just arrive for my prison intake. Again, lots of cruise experiences and never felt this way. The gentleman who checked us in did a good job of making us feel welcome, which helped. However, as we boarded the ship I found the crew to be more like security, very unfriendly feeling and barking orders or demands. I am acclimated to all the smiling faces and helpful souls of the Carnival cruise experience and I will be returning to them as a loyal customer from here forward even if it means paying a little more money. At dinner we sat for typically an hour and a half because the wait staff was handling so many tables. Our waiter was friendly and did his best to accommodate. They would bring rolls, and I asked 3 times for butter while we sat there hungry for 30-40 minutes waiting on the butter. The food served was very small servings, and not up to par for an evening dinner entree experience. Shrimp cocktail contained 2 shrimp, the steak ordered was paper-thin. The second night we decided to upgrade for the rib-eye with bearnaise . When the steak came it had no bearnaise. We asked the waiter who shrugged us off and never returned with the sauce. Twenty minutes later we went to find some sauce from another waiter, but by this time the steak was cold. We asked for the head waiter, who never came. We asked for refund which we were also declined. We were offered a 20% discount, which we also did not receive as per our bill at check out. We asked for the manger on the way out of the dining room and informed him we will not be returning to eat in the dining room, nor will we return to this cruise line in the future. They continued to mix up our orders and bring out wrong dishes we had not ordered. It was clear they did not have the staff needed to get the job done efficiently. The cruise seemed to be half booked which leaves me wondering what would have happened if it had been full. Our room was extremely tidy, and our room staff were friendly. We also found it easy to obtain beverages in the bar areas which we loved as well as the ability to use use the drink package the day we were on the cruise ships owned island. My suggestions to MSC, is to train your staff for customer service, we are your customers not a bother! Add more staff to you dining room and more things to do throughout the day, the choices of entertainment were slim. Leaving us sitting in our staterooms for hours at a time waiting for the evening show. I hope this review helps those who are shopping for a great deal to see what gets cut when prices are so low. Spend the extra $50-$100 a person and enjoy your vacation experience! Read Less

Definitely a more European feel, so maybe not suitable for American families with young kids. The food was wonderful with a buffet running most of the day and several dining rooms. We were in the Marco Polo dining room which had amazing and tasty food each night. The waitstaff doesn't bend over backwards for their guests, which I assure all you boomers is not actually rude, and a lot of them speak limited English, so just be smart about how you order things, and don't expect them to run around the ship getting you fancy drinks that aren't available in the dining room, get them yourself. The pool felt a bit crowded on the days at sea but get yourself a spot on the upper side decks with a view of the ocean and it's absolutely amazing. The bars are quite nice and well placed outside of the dining areas and theater. I think the entertainment and nightly shows were my favorite part. The shows usually featured signing and dancing and the acrobatics were very good. If you get a chance to see the Addams' Family show definitely go for it as it absolutely blew me away. The entertainment staff is a lot of fun and definitely works super hard to make your time not in port a memorable one. Again, just keep in mind that this is a more European feel if you're an American boarding for a Caribbean cruise and all will be perfectly fine. Also the guest relations are some of the most resilient people I've ever met, so don't expect a room upgrade under any circumstances; my cruise was during the COVID-19 outbreak with a much lower number of guests than usual and even so the best we got were chocolate covered strawberries after asking 3 days straight haha. All in all this was an absolutely amazing cruise and I think next time I'll skip out on Carnival and Princess and go for an MSC cruise. Read Less

We loved our whole trip. Flew into New Orleans the day before and had a nice stay in the hotel included in the price. Transfers to the boat was very nice and easy. Once on board were meet with snacks and we went to our room. Bags waiting for us. We could not stop at our first location and used that day to cruise up the river to Baton Rouge. We did the hop on hop off bus tour. Drivers were great and the first four hours a local guide is on the bus. Second stop St. Francisville. We had to dock the other side of the river and bus over the river to the little town. We visit the Myrtles Plantation included in the hop off hop on bus tour. While there be sure to visit Grandmother's Button store. Next stop on the river was Natchez and another day of hop off hop on touring. Last stop was Vicksburg and again we did the hop off hop on tours. The tours were great. During the day when not on land we spent a lot of time on deck 2 watching the river and life on the land. The food was great and loved the Buffet for Breakfast and lunch and dining room for dinner. Lots of good food to eat. Our room was an inside room on deck 3 and was a good size. Bathroom was good but not a lot of storage for items. Our attendant was great at cleaning the room and making sure we had enough coffee for us. The talks about the river given by steve was very interesting. Nightly shows were enjoyable. We had to stop in Baton Rouge on our last day of river cruising to New Orleans. There was a tugboat/barge wreck down river. We ended spending the night in Baton Rouge and in the morning we were bused back to the airport. Over all we totally enjoyed our cruise. Looking forward to our next cruise. Read Less

I chose this cruise because of the date and embarkation port. There was a long wait to board due to inspection of each passport. After that it was smooth and excellent sailing. On the second day the captain announced new policies due to the virus. All restaurant tables were cleared of everything, disposable paper menus were used, and everything was handed to diners by gloved servers. Crew were cleaning every 20 minutes. This attention to every detail kept all healthy. Other than the restaurant situation, everything carried on. We did not miss any ports, the entertainment was entertaining and the food was OK- outstanding. Please try the butter chicken Found at the buffet! Delicious!! My stateroom was well looked after and the cruise was near capacity. We were allowed to visit and disembark at each port. Disembarkation was easy. We were waiting for our ride within 15 minutes. However the Port of Miami was full of many cruise ships as NCL was not sailing for 30 days fleet wide. The entire crew went above and beyond and were cheerful and friendly despite the required extra work due to the virus. We were chosen for the Offices’s Dinner and the next day we arrived to a cabin with 3 towel animals, a birthday banner, and sign from the head if housekeeping to celebrate my adult daughter’s birthday. What a great surprise. Bravo NCL Pearl for a vacation of a lifetime. Read Less

This was our first cruise and given the circumstances, it was awesome. We were worried about how this may turn out, but I wish we were still on the ship. So much to do every day! Crew was spectacular! Special hats off to Arsen from the Ukraine. Just the best! My wife even started her art collection on this cruise. We would definitely sail with Norwegian again. The kids enjoyed all the activities on board. They were only disappointed that they did not weigh enough to do the loop water slide that goes out over the edge of the ship. The freestyle dining was awesome. We were able to eat when we wanted and where we wanted. There are a few premium restaurants, but for our taste, the Garden Cafe Buffet was great. The crew made sure that everyone was washing and disinfecting hands. All surfaces were constantly being cleaned and wiped down. Washy Washy was a new term we learned. :) Read Less

I went on the cruise with my best friend for spring break. We are both 21 years old. I had the time of my life on this cruise, and I’m looking forward to cruising with Norwegian in the future, but there were a few things that surprised me. We were not permitted on the tender boats to go to great stirrup day due to wind. It was really a bummer to get 1 day in the Bahamas on a 7 day cruise. We were also charged an addition tax on any drinks we bought while in port even though we had the drinks package. A $300 deposit came out of both our accounts on the first day that we were not aware of but we got it back. Some employees where rude to us. Especially at The Local. I would avoid that bar and restaurant as much as possible but they are the only place open 24 hours besides room service which is additional fee. Nestor at Sugarcane Mojito Bar make my vacation! He was absolutely wonderful. Everything was extremely clean and sanitary. I thought the food was good at the complimentary places. We didn’t participate in an special entertainment but they have live music all over the boat. I enjoyed getting in the hot tubs but they are limited and crowded most of the time. I enjoyed my 1st cruise and would do it again. Read Less

20 of us from the Houston area sailed on March 8th - our spring break. While we considered cancelling, we made the decision to go forward not knowing that this would be the last sailing for the Joy for a while. It was absolutely amazing how the ship was sanitized. Everyday a new process was implemented. throw pillows were removed from cabins and common area, tables were not set until people sat down. Salt and Pepper plus sugars were now on plates to be thrown away after each meal. People were not allowed to touch any food - if you wanted a glass of water, the crew got that for you. If you wanted Ketchup - the crew poured that on your plate. No one could touch the merchandise for sale. Hand washing required to enter the buffet along with sanitizer. Cabins cleaned at least 2x a day. Decks powerwashed nightly. Balconies powerwashed. Constant wiping down of common areas including the baseboards in the halls. To my knowledge, no one was sick and in fact, we felt very safe on this ship with a crew dedicated to ensure that we were safe. Thanks NCL for a vacation we will all remember for a very long time. Thanks to the Joy crew for taking such good care of us! Read Less

We chose this cruise because the dates matched spring break-I am a professor and had the opportunity to travel (when we booked- we did not know that COVID-19 was on the horizon). We booked on "Black Monday" and got a really good deal with 3 specialty meals, wifi, a beverage package and 50 dollars off shore excursions. Embarkment was excellent. I wished I has listened to the ship orientation-it took me days to understand processes that I should have learned! Our suite was great on the 9th floor with a balcony. The two of us friends have Celiac disease so were quickly connected to the dietary specialist who took such good care of us. We were not able to eat at the buffet because NCL does not label its food, but we had wonderful meals at the sit down restaurants including three at speciality restaurants. We upgraded to the best beverage package and enjoyed fabulous wine bottles with each meal. Our beds were comfortable. Our room was tended to twice a day. In getting off the boat for island days-we would never know we were on the giant ship! Few if any wait times or lines. Really amazing. We took one NCL shore excursion to the Virgin Gorda that was very very well done! I would say our service was good to excellent. We loved the entertainment especially "Pricilla Queen of the Desert" and the Circ show. We got the Wifi upgrade which may have been worth it for two professionals who needed to stay connected to work. WIfi on cruises is slow and frustrating but we did use it when we could. We left on our cruise just before the serious nature of the COVID-19 pandemic came to light. We were not offered cancellation or rescheduling. Once on the ship the crew did lots to keep us safe. We had no virus on ship with 5000 plus passangers and nearly that many crew. I am grateful to NCL for the care they gave us. We were the last sailing of the ship for months. Now, some criticism, mostly of the ship: *The pools are not satisfactory in terms of space, depth, or temperature. There are really no handicap accommodations for swimming. *Pool bar service was far too slow and difficult *Pool area service staff seemed to be avoiding taking orders rather than trying to serve. Our ship was diverted from Puerto Rico to Cape Canaveral due to the COVID-19. Apparently we needed a 3 day quarantine. The NCL crew and staff handled three more days with poise and grace. They treated us with the same kindness we had during the scheduled days of our cruise. BRAVO NCL! You did an excellent job in a tough situation. Read Less

I chose this cruise because it was going to Key West & Cozumel, 2 places I wanted to revisit and leaving out of Canaveral meant I did not have the additional drive to Miami. We are platinum with NCL so we know what to expect Ship: Small which is OK but it is laid out very poorly, you have to go thru too many places to get where you are going Cabin: we had a handicapped accessible room ( I use a wheelchair) Room layout was fine, Bathroom layout was fine. But there were a lot of issues, the toilet would not flush after about an hour of being in the room( it was fixed right away). The shower flooded all the way into the cabin ( they tried to fix it multiple times) it was never fixed. The air conditioner did not work, after they said they fixed it 3 times, until we waited in the room for the repair guy it was finally fixed , 3 days later. Dining: the food in the main dining rooms was good. The buffet is the worst I have seen on a ship. I know this was a smaller ship but the items in the buffet just mirrored on the other side. Poor selection, and some items were there for days. We tried the Sports bar for a change and that was awful. I ordered chicken tenders and my wife ordered a panini , the tenders were limp and rubbery, like someone microwaved a frozen piece of chicken, the panini was on a sub roll with a couple of grill marks on it and what was in it was inedible. We are not food snobs but this was bad Entertainment: saw the Rock and Roll show it was OK, the couple they had singing Country one night in the Bliss were really bad Service: as usual the NCL staff were great, but the room attendant was not so good, I don't think he actually cleaned the room at all, just took out the trash and gave us towels Key West : highlight of our trip, had a good time there Cozumel: too many people hassling you to buy there stuff Getting on & off he ship was fine, actually getting of was the best we have ever had , was in the car by 7:45 Would I go on the Sun Again, NEVER will I go on NCL again, yes , just has to be the right ship and go someplace new Read Less

Due to having to use tenders, one port was canceled. At the other two, it took hours to re-board. The cruise director did a TERRIBLE job of communicating in Cozumel. Yes, there were a lot of ships which I understand makes it more congested. However, they refused to communicate over the loudspeakers as to how we were to disembark on the tenders, leading to mass confusion. It took us 4 hours to get off the ship. We were told they were going to make sure we got there for the excursion, but that time came and went. Then they said the excursions would wait, but when we finally got ashore we were told they left without us. We had a grand total of 2 hours at the port before we stood in line another 2 hours to get back on the boat. I completely blame the cruise director and the crew for their terrible communication and organization. They made an already difficult situation 10 times worse and ruined our vacation. I used to love Norwegian but I will never sail with them again after this. Learn how to make proper announcements so people can plan accordingly and disembark in an organized manner. The dining was actually good, especially Ocean Blue. Many of the cruise staff were amazing through everything, but several were really obnoxious. We missed our first port because of choppy waters, but Jamaica and Grand Cayman were awesome. I highly recommend the ATV excursion in Jamaica and checking out Seven Mile Beach in Grand Cayman. The parties on the ship were lackluster at best, and we really missed the white party which they normally have on Norwegian but didn't this time. Syd Norman Pour House was cool for music but usually too crowded to enjoy. Same thing for the pool. The shows were great as well. We loved Six! All in all, I would not go on another huge ship like the Breakaway again. Q Read Less

We did not listen to all of the bad reviews. Next time we will. Food bland and terrible. Menu never changed. Buffet worst ever. Room so small you could not unpack or move around. Workers on the ship so be tried but the ones in charge could have cared less about our problems or comfort level. We have been on many cruises and this one we could not wait to get off the ship and go home. That so called island was a joke. Sand dirty and hard to walk on. We rented a cabana for the day which should have been all day. Well we weren’t allowed off the ship until mid day and then the bar didn’t open until 1200 and then closed at 4.00 . Well so much for all day use what a waste of 239.00. Please I beg you do not use this cruise line as you will be so said. Read Less

Plain and simple - disappointing. To say the least we were very mislead. This was not a cheap vacation and we didn’t expect it to be, but we also expected it to be at least worth what we paid. We chose this cruise because it matched our travel dates, budgets, and it had a great itinerary. We loved the idea of freestyle dining. No set times, no dress codes, and we didn’t have to eat at tables with strangers - this was the best part about NCL, Freestyle Dining. The port staff in Miami were very rude and rushed us through without allowing us to ask questions. We arrived in our stateroom to have it not be the stateroom that we booked. Guest relations was able to get it situated. Our steward was very sweet, however I was in complete disbelief at how incredibly rude, unfriendly, and unwelcoming the staff on board was. I was literally yelled at numerous times for asking simple questions. The restaurant staff in the specialty restaurants were extremely professional and good at what they do. The buffet was a nightmare. The food is odd - absolutely terrible in complimentary dining rooms (and all serve the same food at the same time, including the buffet) - absolutely outstanding in the specialty restaurants. The bartenders were slower than snails. Inside bartenders were more attentive than outside ones. They couldn’t care less outside, and the “cocktail servers” hid in corners and talked most the time. We were usually right in schedule or early arriving into ports which was nice, however tendering was a total nightmare. Some of us waiting over 4 hours and most people with excursions canceled. It was very disorganized, there was no communication from the directors - it was the equivalent to waiting in an airport terminal for a very delayed flight. What a way to spend vacation. The excursions were well worth it, but any cruise line utilizes them so I don’t feel NCL deserves the credit for these. If you visit Roátan, I highly recommend Jolly Roger Catamaran and Snorkeling - these guys are a blast and it’s an absolutely great time! There were people of all ages from early teens to 70s. Mandy, our Cruise Director, as well as the rest of the entertainment staff were great. Mandy was the only Crewmember on board to even stop and ask our how our day was. She was so personable and really kept us entertained. There is ALWAYS something going on at all times of the day and night. If you aren’t much for excursions or want something more low-key and private, I highly recommend day passes to the Mandara Spa. It is so relaxing and quiet. They were $246 per person but we used our moneys worth. Unfortunately it closed early the last night of the cruise without notice, so I was very disappointed when I went to get my last steam room session in. The ship was clean and there was a lot to do. Unfortunately due to the Coronavirus, our amenities were limited to literally the pool, casino, and shops. Everything else was closed the entire cruise. The water slides, minigolf, shuffleboard, ropes course, all closed and no staff anywhere to tell anyone. I get the circumstances, but it was a bit insane and nobody was even apologetic. All in all, we probably will not be back to NCL after this. We were also really looking forward to our first time on NCL with this cruise, to take advantage of the CruiseNext for our group cruise coming up, however as good as the deal was, I wouldn’t waste my money on this line. I did not feel valued or welcomed hardly at all on the ship. Read Less

The cruise was great and exciting ... great activities. I loved the restaurants. I have been on 3 cruises with MSC I think they should improve the menus of the restaurants.... same food for all 3. And they must change deck 13 menu and add more meat food ie ribs and other meats etc. The crew members are great and helpful. They r so bad working. Please open the gym from 5, 6am is too late. When I went on my first cruise MSC musica there offered us a bottle of water. Overall great experience. The disembarkation process was not great. Long lines to get to emigration. I loved the entertainment team and Eric the cruise director. The price of the photos are expensive. The cabin was also clean and neat. They need to add more seating areas at the pool area to ensure that it’s enough for everyone at the cruise Read Less

Of the seven cruises this was the worst, no recognition for past cruisers in captain party. No update on current carnival status. Just two free bottles of water. Went to dinner in at our time 8:15 was so turned off by staff. Food was terrible, staff was rude. We ate rest of time I On Alito deck same food each day. Yuck. Bartender in lobby bar was rude and down right ugly to me and several other customers. Didn't like working cause Costa Maya port cancellation due to weather. No corvid19 testing or checking just health form. Only good things cabin steward were excellation and very personal. Activities director Juana from buffalo by. Was one of the best we seen. Shows were not of carnival ranking we have been on before. Why were we not inform of covid19 at cozemel prior to the cruise. 1st case was found in Mexico city on 28 Feb our cruise date was 2-7 mar. Several crew demonstrated very rude and disrespectful attitudes to us and other people. Ship needs a complete cleaning. Rust on outside in several emergency boat launchers and noticed on ship in a lot of places. Our first cruise was on the non smoking ship paradise. That was in 2001. Back then carnival gave little pins with the ship name on them. That was a cruise. Read Less

Me my wife and 20yo son decided on doing a family cruise. Our son is on spring break from UF and he wanted to do a cruise for his break, and it's been 5 years since our last cruise.We chose this cruise because we live 30 minutes from the port of Tampa. Embarkation: We arrived at the port around 10:30am. We parked the car in the parking garage across the street and carried our bags over.We went through security, filled out the health questionnaire. We were then directed to the counter to have our documents checked and take our picture. They gave us our key cards then went to sit down. Check in was a breeze. Took a total of about 15 minutes from security till we sat down waiting to board. At 11:00am they started the boarding process. They now board by status, and being gold with NCL we were one of the first groups to board. After boarding we went to O'Sheehans for lunch. They were good not great but good. Cabin: They were ready just after 1:00pm. Our cabin was a mini-suite on deck 11. Number 11070 starboard side. The cabin was roomy and clean. Our steward was awesome. His name was Gede and took great care of us. The only problem was the seas were a bit rough and the cabin would squeak like and old wooden ship would. I kinda liked it but the wife is more of a light sleeper than me so it bothered her a bit. The cabin was only making the noise on the sea days cause like I said the seas were a bit rough. Food: This is always subject to peoples different tastes. I thought the food was good, not great. I had some kind of meat every night. They were hot, cooked to my desired tastes and served with good sides. My wife is a vegetarian and didn't have a lot of choices. Now they have certain items on the menu that are on the menu everyday plus the days new choices. They had 3 cheese ziti and fettuccine alfredo on the menu everyday that she ate a couple of times because the choices on the menu for that day she didn't like. Our son found items to eat from the menu like I did. The desserts were also good but not great. They included lava cake(the best dessert they had in my opinion), cherries jubilee, crème brulee among others. We ate at the Venetian, Aqua and the Garden café and O'sheehans. Breakfast was usually at the Garden café and was good , but the same food every morning. We did not partake in any paid venues. Entertainment: We enjoyed a lot of the shows we attended. The comedian was very good his name was Clay Strong. The Element show was good also. There was music pretty much everywhere we walked on the ship. We did bingo(we lost). My son was called on stage for Deal or no Deal and won 80 bucks. He had a blast doing that, pricey games. The casino was fun also. First night of cruise the slots seemed to be hot, after that, not so much.hmmm... There were smokers but I didn't find it overwhelming. Our son had a knack for the coin game where you drop coins to push money over the edge. I think he made almost a hundred bucks doing that. Gym: We only went to the gym once and it was well equipped and well maintained. Ports: We went to Costa Maya, Harvest caye, Roatan and Cozumel. Get away from the port area when you get to costa maya., take a shuttle or taxi to the fishermans village about 10 minutes away. We reserved some chairs at Malecon 21 at the fishermans village.(they have a website, and are recommended). Highly recommend this place, as it is at the end of the malecon(strip), its so nice and is not crowded(take a taxi directly there, because its at the end, or you'll be walking a distance to get there). All the other places close to drop off are more crowded .Malecon 21 was very good and I would go back in a instant. Harvest caye we had to tender as the pier had been damaged a few weeks before, so we decided not to get off and enjoy the ship. It seemed a lot of people had the same idea cause the ship was still full. Roatan we also had to tender, we were moored at Coxen hole. I asked why we had to tender and the other 2 ships there were docked because we were the smaller ship, thought that sucked but alas what can I do. Cozumel was our final stop and we docked a Punta Langosta which is the downtown port. We just walked off the ship around 11:00am and just shopped and walked to the square where we had some lunch at a place called Frida's. Food was good and HOT(habanero). The beer was cold and we enjoyed it. Then as we were walking back the sky opened up and it poured for about 30 to 45 minutes. The weathered finally cleared and we went back to the ship. All in all we enjoyed the ports we went to. We have been to all of them a few times each except for Harvest caye. Disembarkation: Being gold members we got yellow tags and were off the ship around 8:00am. We got our bags and got in line for customs, Get a porter so you avoid long custom lines. If you have porter you get thru customs much faster. We parked our car in the garage across the street. So we got in the car and drove home, being Sunday there was no traffic YAY. Summary: We had a great time. Was everything perfect. No, but what in life is. Life is what you make out of it and we made a great time of it. Heck we are on a cruise. The ship was very full even with the coronavirus in the news. We were not nervous about it at all. Already looking to book another cruise for later this year. Read Less

This cruise line always delivers the best 1- food ( we ate sushi x3 went to a fish/ meat restaurant and also to a pub all were excellent A- buffet excellent choices for all dietary restrictions ( just need to ask inform them B- a la carte restaurant C- multiple bakery gelatos ice cream eatery 2- entertainment A-Broadway shows ( saw kinky boots: it was entertaining but lacked of energy that day B-multiple live bands ( saw the Beatles twice guns and Rojas a few time etc... C-top notch comedians Rooms We upgraded to a junior suite with balcony space was good even had a bath Very Clean the only problem we were on the 9th floor over live music so quiet time was only after the show were done ( 11:30 pm almost every night ) But the cruise line offered us to change rooms gave us a complimentary supper they suis so much to make sure everything would be perfect Staff The staff is amazing Polite respectful Read Less

We choose this cruise because of the beautiful ship, price and itinerary. Embarkation and disembarkation were very smooth. We were able to board the ship at the time of our scheduled arrival. The disembarkation was amazing. We could stay in our rooms until 8:00am and then had access to a full buffet breakfast. We could also go anywhere on the ship until it was time to get off. The ship was awesome. It was spotless and the crew was constantly cleaning it. Our cabin fit our family of four very well. Our children are 11 and 13 and they slept in the bunkbeds. The bunkbeds were awesome because each child used them as her designated space. We also had a balcony on the 11th floor. We loved it and used to to relax and play card games. We ate in the Waves dining room for all but one dinner. The staff was outstanding. We had Christian as our main waiter and Nicole as the assistant waiter. They put sparkling water on the table for us each night, since our girls loved it. They knew our preferences and were amazing with our cocktail orders and dinner selections. We enjoyed the food. The portions were very reasonable and not overwhelming. I loved the variation in menus each night. Most of our table tried something from the local menu each night, but my 11 year old stuck with the pasta and ceasar salad most of the time. We did eat dinner in the buffet one night and ate outside, overlooking the water. Again, the food was great and the pizza was amazing. The entertainment was good and there are some very talented people onboard. We liked the music and performers outside of the Broadway Theatre. Since there are so many people from so many different places, the big stage productions didn't include a lot of spoken word. They were a little cheesy and we left in the middle of two. There was a staff talent show during our trip and it was AMAZING. Staff from all over the ship performed and I've never seen anything like it. The ship butcher sang an Italian opera, two waiters sang outstanding show tunes, and one crew member even performed a standup routine. The highlight was when the Samoan firefighters performed their native dances. The show was a hightlight of our trip. Gene the cruise director did a one man show one afternoon. It was amazing and a lot of fun. He shared some funny and touching stories. He does have an amazing voice. I suggest attending if he offers this on an upcoming cruise. Our kids loved the kids club. It gave them a place to go and hang out with other young people. My 11 year old was allowed to go to the Young Club with her 13 year old sister. We just had to sign a waiver. They had a blast playing board games and doing activities with other teens and preteens. We also knew they were in a safe, supervised place while we enjoyed music in the pub or lounge. We loved the Cirque show onboard the ship. We've seen a lot of them in Las Vegas and with a local troupe in Minnesota. The performers were very talented and the show was a lot of fun. Service throughout the week was outstanding. We ate breakfast most mornings in the buffet and had the Easy Drink package. The morning buffet crew could make excellent cappucinos and fancy coffees. Breakfast was outstanding and had many selections from all over the world. The Easy Drink package was great for our family. All of the wines were pretty good, but we are not super big winos. My husband seemed fine with the mixed drinks. Our children liked getting sodas and frozen drinks whenever they wanted them. We loved our shore excursions. In Costa Maya we took a taxi to the little nearby town and went to 40 Cannons Beach Club. It was $40 a person for lunch, non-alcoholic drinks and a beach chair. We loved our Belize City trip to the Crystal Caverns and Ziplines with Peter from Chukka Excursions. We booked through the ship and the service was outstanding on that trip. In Roatan we rode horses on the beach and had some beach time. The service was very good and we booked through the ship for this activity as well. I suggest booking through the ship for Belize City and Roatan. Travel is pretty slow and if you are late, they have to wait for you if you booked through the cruiseline. If you were late on your own, you'd be stuck in that city. Our kids loved the ship and we prepurchased a fun pass. We didn't get to go to Ocean Cay because of weather and the fun pass was a lifesaver! The virtual games, bowling and aviation ride were a big hit with our family. My 13 year old competed in the Junior Master Chef at Sea and it was awesome. She was technically too old for it, but lots of big kids from the kids club did it with her. We received a big refund from the cancelled stop at Ocean Cay. We had to wait in line for two minutes to get the refund. They gave it to us in cash. The crew kept us up to date on the weather and changes to our cruise, but they didn't yammer on and on over the intercom. We attended the Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle. They made us feel very special and shared some good tips about how to best experience the ship. We went to the casino a few times but didn't gamble. It can be very smoky. The pools were fine, but we prefer to swim in the ocean so we didn't spend a lot of time there. We loved the Bamboo Pool and hot tubs best. The kids loved the water park and ropes course. Even on the at sea days we didn't have long lines. We enjoyed spending time on the decks, but stayed away from the smokers' area. There is hardly any ventilation and the air is terrible for non-smokers. Our room steward, John, was fabulous. He kept everything very neat and tidy and we barely saw him. He was very fast and efficient! We are pretty easy going people and really loved this cruise. We liked MSC's ala carte way of business.We felt like we didn't ahve to pay for things we didn't use. We travel overseas a lot and enjoyed spending time with people from all over the world. I look forward to seeing the new MSC terminal in Miami in a few years! Read Less

My wife and I sailed on the Carnival Panorama on Feb 29th –Mar 7/8th (I will explain more on that later). We are experienced mass market cruisers having sailed on Carnival, Princess, Holland America, Norwegian, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean previously. This was our 28th cruise. We are senior citizens. Those of you who have read my reviews before know that I might be politely described as picky. I can’t help it. I was born with the glass half empty gene. I know this is not a good way to go through life and I have tried to change, believe me, but I am stuck with my perfectionistic attention to detail. I try to counter this by bending over backwards to give the benefit of the doubt and see things from the other point of view. I usually fail. However, I am balanced by my wife who has a Mary Poppins optimism and sees the good in everything, even me. My wife and I do like cruises for the same reasons. We love being on the ship and enjoy the relaxation and variety of entertainment that it offers. We don’t care where it goes, as the ship is our destination. Since we live near the west coast, the majority of our cruises have been either to Mexico or Alaska. We don’t even get off at the ports in Mexico any more. We shop for bargains and typically cruise during the off season. The things that are important to me in choosing a cruise ship are food, stateroom, entertainment, service, general ambience and activities – pretty much in that order. That being said, the Panorama appealed to me because of two things. 1) It had a trampoline park on board ship – the first and only ship to do so. 2) It had a category of ocean view rooms that had 2 bathrooms or technically, a bath and a half. The half bath had no toilet and smaller square footage but it had its own sink and a 2/3 size bathtub (but deep) and shower combination. The full sized bathroom with a toilet had a standard shower. The last time I was on a trampoline I was 16 years old, 5’8” tall and weighed 135 lbs (maybe). I had fond memories of how much fun I had doing all kinds of gymnastic tricks on the trampoline: twists, flips, every manner of trick. The trampoline and I were one. Everything came natural to me. I looked forward to impressing my wife with my emergence from the couch potato she knows me as into an acrobatic marvel. The fact that I am now 73 years old, have shrunk about 2 inches and gained 85 lbs., not withstanding. As I started my warm up jumping, I noticed that the trampoline and I were no longer one. The bouncing felt awkward and alien to me. I tried a simple knee drop and was unable to bounce back up to my feet – and it hurt my knees and ankles. I bounced some more, I tried a seat drop and landed awkwardly to my right side and fell onto my right arm and shoulder. When I tried to get back up, I found I could no longer use my right arm to push myself back up and had to rely on my left (I am right handed). That ended my trampoline session. My wife, however, was impressed - WITH THE DEPTH OF MY STUPIDITY! For the rest of the cruise, I came to be known as Lefty as I was unable to raise my right arm very far and could not lift with it. But enough about me, onward with the ship. FOOD – A The food in the MDR was great. Not just good – great. I have cruised Carnival before. I am pretty much a meat and potatoes kind of guy. My favorite foods are steak, hamburgers and hot dogs and pizza and any kind of potato. I have the taste of your average 9 year old. According to my wife, also the mentality. The buffet had average buffet food. No better or worse than you receive on any other mass market cruise ship. On some Norwegian ships (not all), Celebrity and Royal Caribbean ships, I have experienced better than average buffets. Although the buffet on the Panorama was often crowded, never had a problem finding a table/seat. One below average thing about the buffet was limited variety of offerings. Much more limited than most ships. Back to the MDR. Since I tend to order meat and potatoes, I often order that flat iron steak which is on the always available portion of Carnival’s MDR dinner menu. In the past, this has been an okay experience but not memorable. The first night on board I ordered it for dinner. It was amazing. More tender than usual but bursting with flavor. It was all good. Never had a bad dinner in the MDR the whole trip. Guy’s Pig &Anchor charged extra for dinner but served complimentary lunch on sea days. The problem was on sea days the was a very long line to stand in before you ever get to the food. Lines tended to be the norm for lots of things. I don’t do lines well. Rather skip the venue than wait in line so we did not eat at Guy’s Pig and Anchor. JJ’s Asian and Cucina Capitan, both extra dollar restaurants, also provided free limited lunch items. We never ate at JJs but did the Cucina for lunch one day. Quite good. Of course, there was Guy’s burgers and the Blue Iguana (Mexican food) with lines for each. On occasion, when there was a short line, I had a Guy’s burger. I know I am going to sound like a heretic, as everyone raves about Guy’s burgers and fries. The burgers are good but not fantastic, IMHO, and I do not like the way the fries are seasoned. I would rather have regular French fries. I find the burgers and fries at Holland America’s Dive In to be far superior. For one thing, they are cooked to order. Second to the Dive In, I favor the burgers available at O’Sheehan’s or the Local (depending upon what ship you are on), the 24 hour dining venue on Norwegian’s line. To each his own. Pizza was good but not my favorite, but again, everyone has their own pizza preference. I think Carnival aims for the middle of the pack, which makes sense. STATEROOM – A+ We had the deluxe ocean view stateroom with the one and a half baths. The luxury of having essentially two separate bathrooms so two people can get ready at the same time cannot be overstated. Did not know what I was missing, but any Carnival cruises I would take in the future would have to be on a Vista class ship that offers this type of stateroom. Much rather have the extra bathroom than a balcony. Nice TV that offered only a few channels and a few free movies. Comfortable bed, adequate storage. Thermostat worked great. I like it cold and lots of times I cannot get it cold enough to sleep. My wife, needless to say likes it warm. Our compromise is she can have it warm during the day and I get it cold at night. Thermostat worked great for both of us. ENTERTAINMENT – B Musicians, singers and dancers were all A to A+. The reason for the B grade was the venue. The main theater, known as the Liquid Lounge, is a hideous monstrosity of a venue. On the main level, the chairs which are not theater type chairs but regular sitting chairs quickly become uncomfortable after 10-15 minutes of sitting on them. The floor is flat and does not slant upwards so the chairs are all on one level. The farther back you are from the first row, the greater your chance of not being able to see what is going on because you are blocked by either one of the people in front of you or a pillar. Sight lines are awful. If you want to see a main room show, better get there an hour before, even though doors don’t open until a half hour before, as there will be a very l-o-n-g line. SERVICE – A+ Every crew member was attentive, friendly, warm and greeted us with a smile despite the onerous duties of their jobs. From our room steward to our dining room servers to the cruise director – just everyone we encountered were above and beyond. I admire and have utmost respect for those crew members. I could never be like that but their attitudes just made the whole cruise that much better. GENERAL AMBIENCE AND ACTIVITIES - A The general ambience of the ship appealed to me. It was nicely decorated and had lots of organic wood and earth tones. It was incredibly clean but it is also Carnival’s newest ship, just put into service in November and this is its inaugural season. Activities rate an A+. The top deck which has the water park, slides, sky obstacle course, sky pedal ride, pool tables, club house, miniature golf, outdoor exercise machines – too much to list, really is incredible. The elevators take a little getting used to, You push the floor on a touch screen outside the elevator banks – not buttons in the elevator itself. Then the touch screen tells you which letter elevator gets assigned to that floor. Sometimes you can wait quite a while for your elevator and it might be packed at peak times, but most of the time it worked okay. Embarkation was relatively easy. We were supposed to disembark on March 7th. We put our luggage out the night before and had our carry-ons with us ready to go that morning. It was announced that disembarkation would be delayed as customs would not clear the ship and the cruise line could do nothing about it, Apparently, there was a woman who had taken ill but clearly had a non-COVID condition. Nonetheless, customs wanted to do a thorough screening before the cleared the ship for disembarkation. Carnival knew what was going on with the passenger and was confident that she would be deemed to not have a condition that was virus related. Being that everyone is hyper vigilant with what is happening these days, customs (I think with CDC input) decided she should be transported to a local hospital and tested. We were advised it would take 6 hours for the test results to come back. At that point, it was pretty clear that we were on the ship until nightfall and probably overnight. Carnival was great about it. They opened up all the restaurants, gave us free wifi, made the pay movies on TV free, put together an entertainment schedule with the entertainment staff and did everything they could to keep us happy, fed and entertained. Hats off to the crew of the Carnival Panorama. Could not have been more accommodating and all with smiles on their faces even though they were under the most pressure of any of us. They also had to deal with the people on shore who were supposed to board for their cruise but could not as we were still on the ship. I could almost hear those poor people yelling as the buffet opened up again –“ Hey, hey – that’s our food. They’re eating our food. I paid for that food.” As it turned out, the results of the testing came back negative, just as anticipated but at that point we were well into the evening and had to stay overnight on the ship until the next day when we disembarked. Such are the risks of cruising in the current climate. The cruise itself was terrific and I would do it again. My only objection was that there were lines for almost everything and I hate lines. Read Less

Chose this cruise to hopefully miss spring break but discovered it was Canada’s spring break. Very crowded and rowdy crowd. Tried to find quiet places and all the designated quiet areas were full of unruly screaming children. No rules were ever enforced. Embarkation was a nightmare. Some people were in line for over 3 hours before getting on the ship. Not sure if Corona screening played a part. But I doubt it. All of the specialty restaurants were superb. The buffet was good for lunches. Except again, children using their hands to get food. Unacceptable. Entertainment was fabulous. Choir of man was amazing. We love dueling pianos and went 3x during the week. The Carol King tribute was also very good. The spa was very annoying with the constant attempts to lure you in. We had the spa package and loved the thermal suites. I had a manicure which was no different from any one I could have gotten at home. Plus it chipped in 2 days. $ 55 was waaaaay overpriced. Stateroom just ok. Blah decor. Dark brown and green. Balcony nice.neighbors really noisy. Read Less

We are a family of four from Montreal, Canada, who cruise extensively. We have 9 previous cruises with Carnival, 22 overall. This trip was supposed to be husband, wife, and son only, but my daughter’s school trip to Europe was cancelled at the very last minute due to “the virus that shall not be named”, so we had to scramble to book her to travel with us. We got absolutely killed on airfare, but Carnival (kudos to them) were very reasonable about changing our booking from a triple to a quad cabin. The fourth passenger’s fare was only slightly more than my son’s, and we upgraded from a porthole to a large outside cabin. Good on them. EMBARKATION: We had Faster to the Fun, so we basically walked onboard at 11am. No delays whatsoever. There is one major flaw to this system, however: there is no counter stop in the boarding process anymore to attach our credit card to the ship-board account. The result was: charges were being declined soon after we sailed. The lineup at guest services was an hour long, with everyone trying to fix this issue. One employee in the terminal could have saved many passengers a lot of trouble: “Is your credit card attached to your account? No? Over here, please.” Faster to the Fun allowed me to skip the line and use the Platinum/Diamond line, so that alone was worth the cost. Waited 10 minutes max and credit was established. Our cabin was ready right away, and keycards were in the mailbox, but no luggage was to be seen. It was supposed to be there already, due to FTTF. Luggage arrived later, after Muster drill. CABIN: We had a large outside cabin, which featured two bathrooms, but only one toilet. Cabin was initially very clean, and we only had it made up once a day, so everything was as expected. TV remote didn’t work properly all cruise. We showed it to our steward, but it decided to work whenever we showed it to him. Then malfunction later on. There was only one news channel, and the news was looped and cut for time. I did manage to locate an audio output on the back of the tv to connect headphones (great for watching TV and not disturbing others who might be sleeping). The fridge worked, sort of…. I propped the cabinet door open but the fridge didn’t work any better. Mattresses on the beds were old, lumpy and uncomfortable. FOOD: This is very subjective, but this was our 9th cruise with Carnival over the years, and every passing year the quality seems to decline, particularly at the Lido lunch buffet. There were perhaps four meat choices, including one carvery choice. Carnival “used to” have the best lunch options at sea, remembering back to our cruises on Dream and Freedom. Not any more. Guy’s Burgers was ok… I found it a bit dry. Mongolian Wok was excellent, as usual. We also ate at the Seafood Shack (snow crab), Italian restaurant and steakhouse, all of which were excellent. We had Your Time Dining, and because we ate late (8:30-9pm) we never had to wait for a table. In fact, the room was nearly empty. The dining room menu had the usual hit-or-miss fare. Prime rib, filet mignon and lobster were good, most chicken dishes were dry/overcooked/kept warm, and the rest was so uninspired I have already forgotten it. Service teams ran the gamut from excellent to downright surly. Room service took about 30 minutes, and the food was ok, I expected better since there is a charge per item now. My wife was looking forward to the dessert offerings and was generally disappointed. She found the cakes lacked sweetness. One night in the Bliss dining room, the accent lighting was blue, which made the food on our plates look absolutely disgusting. Fix this, Carnival! No blue lighting in the dining room. I also found that many Lido buffet servers just stood around, until elbowed by a supervisor to wake up – customer is waiting…. Also, food counter closing times, as announced in the Fun Times, seemed very arbitrary. Some counters closed on time, others were kept open late. No way of knowing in advance. DRINKS AND BAR SERVICE: Drinks were consistently mixed and had a decent amount of alcohol. Service was good, with one exception: during one comedy show in the Limelight Lounge, the floor waiters were short-staffed, and the second waitress (Alejandra, in her infinite wisdom) decided to follow the same route as the other waitress, leaving half the room un-served. I actually got up and asked her to serve our side of the room, but she ignored me. I know she heard me. No drinks were sold in our half of the room that night, and many were not happy. Profits lost, Carnival! Train your staff! ENTERTAINMENT: Cruise director was very good at his job, keeping everyone entertained. Production shows were spotty: some singers were excellent, some were WAY off pitch, and no falsetto voice for the Michael Jackson songs??? Special effects and lighting were very good. Soundtrack was pre-recorded. One thing of note: This ship had the most clueless, abysmal DJs of any ship I have ever been on. The same 12 songs played over and over again. AC-DC and Rob Base seemed to rule, with Run DMC (It’s Tricky) thrown in ad nauseum. The 80’s party had the absolute worst song choices…. and Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock (It Takes Two To Play This Song So Much – and there were indeed TWO most awful DJs on this cruise) cleared the dance floor completely. Good job, Mr. DJ! (perhaps you should stick to reggae… just sayin’). On a positive note, the Quest show was hilarious, and the comedians were mostly very good (again, subjective). Some very ill-bred passengers, of which there were many on this sailing, kept a screaming baby in the lounge for the entire comedy show, and a fistfight almost broke out after the show. Some people have no class whatsoever. Take your child and step outside…. PLEASE! The comedian kept his composure throughout the distraction, to his immense credit. No staff member did step in, though. Afraid… I guess. One piece of advice for those wanting to attend the comedy shows: get there 45 minutes early or you will have to stand. DEBARKATION: An absolute cluster-(you know what) with people blocking the way with later assigned times, waiting to jump first in line. No staff to guide us. Elevators jammed. People exited elevators and jumped a very long line. So we waited an eternity. Once past the card scan, we flowed smoothly, and were outside in minutes with our luggage. CONCLUSION: The itinerary was very good if you like nice beaches. This was a very ordinary cruise, where the only things that truly stood out cost extra. Food was a complete disappointment. We will try another line for our next cruise. Read Less

You're already paying a huge amount to go and then they charge you insane daily service fees for nothing just to be in you room you paid for. We always had "do not disturb" on room door so we never used the stewardess cause we are already neat and clean. WE ate the buffet only which is all included in the prices... Limited on drinks, cofffee is horrible. ALL the cakes and dessert are like fancy cardboard (sure taste like it). Only the ice cream was decent. Gym is so tiny and crowded. The observer deck is horribly laid out, only limited chaise lounges (ocean view)... all the rest are just coffee table and chairs which people would sit and wait to grab a chaise as soon as person stood up. They note on the LAST night that the service fees charged to your room are mandatory. What the ! Didn't know we were charged 7nights of service fee for nothing. Obsurd! Restrooms always had issues. Most of the toilets DO NOT work properly. even some soap dispensers dont work. just save yourself the money and headache book another cruise line.. Read Less

Last cruise aboard Celebrity was 9 years ago.. Thursday Feb 20th.-- travel by car to Quebec City (4 hours) Stayed at Cofortel for a Park and Fly . Close to the airport. $194. Friday Feb 21st.-- Taxi fare paid by hotel. 11:30 flight to Montreal. 16:30 flight to Fort Lauderdale.. Sat in the last seats on plane. Travel with airmiles. 20:30-- Uber from FLL to Airbnb at Diana beach area $13.65. Cost for one night Airbnb $120. Canadian funds. Small room but the price was right. Safe area. Some noise from airport. Walked to The Field Irish Pub and Eatery, 15 minutes.. Good meals, live entertainment. Walked back and bought 2 bottles of wine at a Publix Grocery store.. Saturday Feb 22nd. -- My birthday. Walked to Publix and bought pastries and orange juice for breakfast. Took Uber to Cruise terminal around 11am. $10.85. Clean car.. When we got to cruise port around 11:45, there was a lineup. We joined in the group. After 30 minutes the lineup was quite significant.. Rumors of problems with scanning equipment. When the line started to move for boarding, it was surprising quick to get inside. More chaos inside but we finally got onboard around 1 o'clock . Room Bernardo our room steward was there to greet us.. Nice guy.. Went for a couple of drinks at the top deck.. We do not have a drinking package .. The personnel tried for a couple of days to sell a drink package.. Intimidation was felt. We do not go on vacation to drink, we can do that at home.. Went for dinner at main dining room. We did not return for the entire trip. Food was just so-so. One half of the couple we were sitting with from Pittsburg was really negative and we choose not to get in this environment again. Show(Topper) in the main theater was good 4.3/5.. Slept good, high winds, rough seas. Checked patio and this was when we realized that the deck below (5) us was a meeting place for smokers.. our balcony smell of cigarette smoke for around 90% of the entire cruise.I need to do a better room research next time. Sunday Feb.23rd.-- Key West-- nice day, Got off ship and walked to a live cam at a bar not far from ship. Called our son and did a live stream on Messenger. Waved to our grand daughter . walked around for a couple of hours. Bought a 8 pack of Coke and brung back to ship. Had lunch. Went back to shore. Had a few drinks at Hog breath bar. live music was excellent. Packed house. Picked up some gift . Ship left at scheduled time. Le Petit Chef for dinner ..Glad we did it. Show was good. Food OK. 4/5.. Comedian (Derrick Cameron) was good. 4.2/5.. another good nights sleep. Monday Feb 24th. Sea day. got some sun first thing in a.m. finally sinked in that I am on vacation . Ate at buffet rest of trip. Good variety. Rough seas . Broadway cabaret in main theater. not for me. 2/5 Slept good Tuesday Feb.25th.-- Costa Maya.. took a cab to Tropicante. 8$ for the 2 of us. Had some loungers in the shade. Raphael and Miguel both excellent at keeping us in the loop. bucket of 6 beers for $15. had fish tacos and roll . had a 1 hour massage for $30.Beach was clean. Went back to port area around 2p.m. Watched cruisers coming back on ship from deck 5.. 2 other ships in port. some of them over indulged on their consumption. Bubley night from 3 signers in main theater was OK. 3/5 My wife actually enjoyed all venues and music around the ship better than me.. She would rate all from good to excellent. Wed. Feb 26th. Cozumel. 5 other cruise ships in port.. 8 dollars to go to town. walked around.Hot and humid. Vendors can be intimidating. No eye contact. Senior Frogs swim with plenty of fishes. couple of beers. Got ripped off at the local Maga superstore. Bought a bags of chips for 60 cents u.s. gave 2 dollars and my change was given at a poor woman near cashier even though she did not touch it. Called for assistance and was given a guilt trip that I should support poor people. Religious thieves. was not ticked off , was just an experience. funny even.. Back on ship, booked anytime dining . food still not to the buffet quality. Had a bottle of wine in our room on return. gift for 35th anniversary marriage. Also a Equinox magnet gift. Life in main theater was good 3.9/5 . Great nights sleep. Thursday Feb 27th.-- Grand Cayman- tender to port. went to Paradise restaurant . My wife had a drink and ordered some tacos. I went to swim with the fishes near restaurant. plenty of colorful fishes. bought 2 bottles of liquor from Butterfield. Went to Sharkezz bar for a bucket of beer. Best port because nobody trying to sell us stuff. Main theater comedian Dave Burleigh was excellent 4.5/5 . Friday Feb.28th.-- sea day . too cold for sitting on top deck. Started packing suitcases. Saturday Feb.29th. -- did our own disembarkation . out of ship quickly. Had 10 cents charged to our credit card. that was what was left of the $375 OBC. Cab to airport 10 dollars. Terminal 2 Air Canada and Delta way to full. Bad day for travel. we were suppose to land in Quebec City at 6:10 pm but only got in Quebec at 3:15 am. Staye at Cofortel again. Delays were not mechanical so we will try to get compensated with new rules on delayed flights. Suiday Feb.29th.-- Drove home to our waiting Yorkie Kiwi. Poor little dog had to go to the vet while we were gone. Nothing to serious, antibiotics and xrays for $240. All in all we will definitely try to get a room were we don't have to breath second hand smoke on our next cruise. we did a couple of weeks at resort hotels and Cruising is still our preferred vacation deal. Read Less