H
hol183
Guest
We just got back yesterday from our 12/28/03 New Year’s cruise on the Elation. We had such a wonderful time and I have to thank everyone for their reviews and opinions. They really helped us make our vacation choices.
First off, my husband and I have only been on two cruises. We are 38 and 33. Last year we were married on RCI Monarch of the Seas out of Fort Lauderdale. The 12/28 New Year’s Elation cruise was our first Carnival cruise and we chose it due to price and itinerary (we wanted to see Belize). We had a terrific time and cannot say enough great things about the ship and it’s crew. I had read a few negative reviews recently about the crowds, the kids, rude crew etc so I was a little nervous about what we may experience. We had absolutely no problems with any of the above. Maybe we hit Tiffany’s at odd times, but I never stood in line behind more than 5 or 6 people. I never had a problem getting a drink from the bartender and we didn’t pass a crew member that didn’t say Hello or Happy New Year. We were even able to get deck chairs everyday that we wanted them. Maybe we were traveling under a lucky star J.
We arrived in Houston on Saturday 12/27/03 and stayed the night at the Courtyard Marriott by Hobby airport. The hotel was nice, but we were stuck without a car. The only restaurant in sight was Damon’s at the Marriott. It was a short walk and the food was pretty good. My husband was very happy because they had an entire wall of big screen TV’s and they were showing the Sat night football game. The hotel shuttled us back to Hobby Sunday morning so we could pick up our shuttle to Galveston. We used Galveston Limo and the ride went smoothly. We were on a shuttle by 11:30 am and arrived in Galveston by 12:15pm.
Embarkation went very quickly. We gave our luggage to a porter and headed in the building. The longest line we waited in was the Sail & Sign line. We had completed the Fun Pass online…along with everyone & their brother. There were at least 75 people in front of us in the Fun Pass line. There were about 10 people in the “traditional†line. Our line moved at a fairly steady pace though. Then we had our picture taken and headed on board. We were in our room (which was ready for us) by 1pm.
After we dropped off our bags in our room we headed for lunch on the Lido deck and then wandered around the ship. We actually saw dolphins swimming at the port. I couldn’t believe my eyes. We saw several more in port while we were waiting to debark on the last day. Keep an eye out!
Our room was midship on the Riviera deck. The way the ship was rolling, I was glad we were on the lower deck although we were never sick. Yes, the carpeting was stained in the hallway and the choice of colors in the room was not attractive. It appeared there had been a water problem at one time. However, I didn’t notice a smell and our room was clean. I didn’t notice any mold in the bathroom. The little bowl of toothpaste, razors, floss, shower gel, etc was very nice. Our room steward, Gary, was always pleasant and helped us out with any request we had.
We were assigned the 8:30 seating in the Imagination dining room. Eddie & Sammy took great care of us. They were prompt and brought us two of things we didn’t even ask for. It was great to be able to sample different dishes. Our service in the dining room was excellent! We had 8 people at out table and we loved our tablemates. The Carnival computer did a great job of matching us up. All eight of us were about the same age and had alot of the same interests. Most nights we were the last table out of the dining room. This was not due to service, but because we were all talking so much. We went to shows together and hit the midnight buffet. I feel very lucky to have met such a great group of people. Sammy and Eddie did a wonderful job at dinner. They were terrific and we enjoyed getting to know them. On the last night our table made sure to slip both of them some extra cash so they would know how much we appreciated them.
Monday:
Rain, Rain, Rain. It didn’t just rain, it poured… All Day! The wind was blowing and the ship was rocking. I didn’t see or hear of anyone getting sick, but we could definitely feel it. I was disappointed that I couldn’t sit on deck, but watching a storm at sea was really cool. It was truly amazing to see lightning strike at sea and to watch the swells around the ship. It is a sight I won’t forget.
We met the other posters from Cruise Critic for a meet & mingle in the Drama bar. Thanks Patti (P2Lockhart) for arranging the get together. It was fun to meet everyone and finally put a face with a name.
Other than eating, which I did several times on Monday, I didn’t find too much to do. The rain limited the activities, in my opinion. I’m not a big gambler, so that wasn’t my cup of tea and I had my shore excursions already planned so I didn’t need to attend that talk. I wanted to check out the Trivia, but it was so crowded due to rain that I couldn’t get close enough to hear what was going on.
Tuesday – No rain & sunny
Progreso: We took the Dzibitchaltun ruins tour through Carnival. We took a half hour bus ride to the ruins. Our guide Manuel Espinosa was great. He was incredibly knowledgeable about Progreso, the ruins and the surrounding area. We had never taken a trip to see any ruins so we were not disappointed with Dzib. I have heard that Chichen Itza is amazing, but we just didn’t want to take the bus ride to it. I particularly enjoyed the ride through Progreso. The town has not become touristy like Cozumel yet. There were houses with mules parked outside and signs all over town to “Vote for Ponchoâ€Â. Manuel explained that the shopping on the dock has only been there for a couple of years. He said that many of the farmers are leaving their crops to come to town to try to sell to the tourists. The income that comes from the cruisers is a steady income and they can make more than farming. I feel lucky to have seen Progreso before tourism takes over.
Wednesday – Sunny
Cozumel: We docked at the Puerta Maya pier. This was a much nicer pier than the International Pier. We took a cab ($10) to Playa Corona to snorkel. We got there about 9:45am and got a palapa right by the water. There was no admission fee, but we had to rent masks and fins (we bought the snorkels on the ship $5 each). The masks & fins were $8 per person. The day was beautiful and the snorkeling was good. We had only snorkeled once before and we have never been to Dzul Ha or Chaankanab so I can’t compare. The dos equis and sol beer was $3 and the chips/salsa was $2. Several snorkel excursions came through so it would get pretty crowded, but then clear out again after they left. We stayed here until about 1pm. Then we went back to the ship to change. We headed downtown by cab ($6) to shop and have lunch at Pancho’s Backyard.
Thursday – Sunny & VERY windy
Belize: Tendering to this port was an exercise in frustration. Yes, I know that the carnival shore trips get priority, but it was still an aggravation. We had booked the Coral Breeze excursion and needed to get tender tickets. The Capers stated to be in the Cole Porter Lounge to receive the tickets at 8am. We got to the lounge at 7:30am with Patti & Todd (P2Lockhart) and their family (also on the Coral Breeze excursion). We sat in the front to be sure we were first in line to get the first tender off the ship. Other cruisers started to trickle in and there were about 40 or so people waiting for tender tickets. At about 8:05 two staff members walked into the back of the lounge and said they were there to hand out tender tickets so come on up. At that point a mad rush to get a ticket happened. Luckily, Patti’s husband Todd happened to be at the back of lounge. It all worked out and we were on the first tender, but I thought they could have handled it much better. It was like a free for all for tickets. It didn’t matter that we were there first or how long we had waited. We were told to come back to the Cole Porter lounge at 9am to go board the tender. From 9am – 9:45am we were told it would only be 5 more minutes. That got old pretty quickly.
Finally at 9:45 we were led to our tender. The tender we were on held about 50 – 60 people and was very fast. The people in the back of our tender were drenched before we made it to port. The ones in front were being bounced all over the place. I would suggest finding a seat towards the back, but still under cover.
The Coral Breeze excursion was fabulous and Belize was beautiful. There were only 12 of us booked (all from the Elation and from the CC message boards) and we were picked up at the port and taken on a 30 minute ride to Caye Caulker. The lunch requests were turned in and we headed out to snorkel. When we got in the water we saw many rays. Our guide Leon picked one up that was about two and a half feet in diameter. He then let my husband hold it. He was thrilled. There were a couple of nurse sharks in the area and we saw a few more when we got back in the boat. We were then taken to the coral gardens to snorkel. However, we didn’t get to see too much there. The winds were VERY strong and were creating quite a current. Leon didn’t think it was safe to take us too far over the reef. I was disappointed but I had to agree with him. Better safe than sorry. Lunch on Caye Caulker was very good. We both had the shrimp fajitas. As we were sitting on the island I felt like we were in that Corona commercial. After about an hour of relaxing on the beach and touring the island we all loaded in the boat and headed back to Belize City.
Two of our tablemates were on the ill-fated shore tour to Goff’s Caye purchased through Carnival. They felt there was some sort of mix up since it was New Year’s day and possibly the vendor paid another boat to pick up the passengers. She said the boat was too small and was over loaded with people. When they made it to Goff’s Caye the tour guide said they did not have snorkel equipment for anyone, but the next boat would bring it. She said that the next boat had snorkel equipment for it’s passengers, but none for the previous boat. After they spent an hour or so on the island they were ready to go. As a group they told the guide that they wanted to go back to the ship. Again, he loaded everyone into the small boat and headed back to the ship. As they pulled away from Goff’s Caye, the boat was stuck in the sand since it was too full. They were tugged out to deeper water and were on their way. About halfway there the engines stopped. The captain said the engines were about to overheat and had to be turned off. My tablemate said that she could see the panic start and a couple of women were about to cry. Everyone started putting on their life jackets. The wind was very strong that day and they really did fear the boat would capsize and someone would get hurt. Finally, the captain was able to get them back to the ship. The group went to the purser’s desk and complained. They were originally offered a refund of the shore tour and a $50 credit towards a future cruise. I don’t think that made anyone happy. A meeting was arranged for the next day in the conference room for the passengers involved, the shore tour manager and the hotel manager. They offered the passengers a refund of the price of the tour, a refund for any snorkels or underwater cameras they bought and a refund of 1/7th the price of the cruise. The refund was taken off the sail & sign balance before the end of the cruise. Our tablemates were happy with that and thought it was reasonable.
New Years Eve: After dinner we went to the Lido deck about 11:15pm with our tablemates. The weather was warm and only a little windy. The band was playing and it was a great party. We went up one deck so we could look down at the band. There was a big countdown at midnight and the ship blew it’s horn four times. The entire ship was lit up. Everyone was throwing streamers or blowing their noisemakers. It was just so nice to be celebrating with good company and warm weather! I didn’t see any champagne in the hot tubs, but the crew was passing out plenty of it.
Friday & Saturday
During our two sea days we hung out on deck, soaked up the sun and ate…a lot. We sat at the back of the ship and didn’t have any trouble getting deck chairs. I didn’t witness a lot of chair saving, but I wasn’t really paying much attention either.
What was good:
The service. I cannot say enough about the crew and staff on the ship. We thought they were all very friendly and accommodating, especially in the dining room.
The public rooms. I did not find the public rooms too gaudy. They definitely were themed, but I thought it was interesting to see how each room was done differently.
The elevators. I know others have complained about this, but we did not have any issues with the elevators. Compared to the Monarch, we thought we were in elevator heaven. There were three sets and we rarely had to wait for one.
What needed improvement:
The food. Some nights in the dining room were excellent, (sirloin steak, filet mignon), some were just plain bad (lobster tail) but most were fair. Breakfast at Tiffany’s was ok, but the omelets were good. The pizza and ice cream were always great.
The shows. We went to the Rhythm show, the Spin show, Lubo’s balancing act and the talent show in the Mikado. We only had problems finding seats on two nights and that was our own fault. We had the 8:30 seating for dinner and we sat and talked to our tablemates until about 10:40. By the time we made out way to the Mikado all of the seats were gone. The nights that we made an effort to be in the lounge by 10:20 there were plenty of seats. I thought Lubo’s act was amazing. The things he could balance on his head was unbelievable. The rest of the shows were ok. The midnight comedians were only ok too. I didn’t find them all that funny.
Waiting to debark. We were waiting to hear our tags called while sitting at a table by the pool. We could not hear the announcements. All week we could hear every announcement outside until it was time to leave. I’m not sure why the speakers outside stopped working on the last day.
What was bad:
There wasn’t anything I could classify as just plain bad. Ok, maybe the lobster tails. Other than that, we had a fabulous time.
The following are just my observations and opinions. I really didn’t feel crowded or overrun by children during the cruise. I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of lines and how easily we could move about the ship. The couple of incidents did not in any way lessen our enjoyment of the cruise. However, by day seven (2nd consecutive sea day) I think the kids were starting to get cabin fever. They seemed to be less interested in organized activities and more interested in running throughout the ship at full speed. I think maybe a seven day cruise is too much confinement for some kids.
Kids in the hot tubs: We saw hot tubs completely filled by young kids. I even saw one with water wings on jumping from the side into the hot tub. We didn’t want to get in them, but I felt sorry for any adult that wanted to try.
Kids in the elevators: We saw kids (approx 8-12 yr olds) sitting on the floor of the elevators eating ice cream and holding the door open so the elevator would not move from the floor. We also saw a different set of kids sitting on the elevator floor playing cards. Again making it difficult to use the elevators. We also saw kids playing tag by running down the stairwell and darting on to the atrium elevators at the last second. We were almost trampled trying to get off the elevator.
Debarkation: We had a 4:40pm flight and we were on the Riviera deck. This meant we were the last off the ship. We didn’t care though. Our choices were to wait on the ship or wait at the airport. We had each purchased 2 liters of alcohol and you are allowed 1 liter per person. We had to get in the duty line at 7:30am to pay the duty on the two extra bottles. However, the agent that reviewed our customs card signed off without charging us. He waived the duty and that was a nice surprise. Then we had to wait for our colored tags to be called to go through immigration. Once it was called it took about 20 minutes to get through the line. Then we had to wait for our tags to be called to get off the ship. By 11am we were off and headed back to Galveston.
We had a wonderful time, met great people and would not hesitate to take this cruise again. It made for a memorable New Year’s and fun way to bring in 2004. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Holly
First off, my husband and I have only been on two cruises. We are 38 and 33. Last year we were married on RCI Monarch of the Seas out of Fort Lauderdale. The 12/28 New Year’s Elation cruise was our first Carnival cruise and we chose it due to price and itinerary (we wanted to see Belize). We had a terrific time and cannot say enough great things about the ship and it’s crew. I had read a few negative reviews recently about the crowds, the kids, rude crew etc so I was a little nervous about what we may experience. We had absolutely no problems with any of the above. Maybe we hit Tiffany’s at odd times, but I never stood in line behind more than 5 or 6 people. I never had a problem getting a drink from the bartender and we didn’t pass a crew member that didn’t say Hello or Happy New Year. We were even able to get deck chairs everyday that we wanted them. Maybe we were traveling under a lucky star J.
We arrived in Houston on Saturday 12/27/03 and stayed the night at the Courtyard Marriott by Hobby airport. The hotel was nice, but we were stuck without a car. The only restaurant in sight was Damon’s at the Marriott. It was a short walk and the food was pretty good. My husband was very happy because they had an entire wall of big screen TV’s and they were showing the Sat night football game. The hotel shuttled us back to Hobby Sunday morning so we could pick up our shuttle to Galveston. We used Galveston Limo and the ride went smoothly. We were on a shuttle by 11:30 am and arrived in Galveston by 12:15pm.
Embarkation went very quickly. We gave our luggage to a porter and headed in the building. The longest line we waited in was the Sail & Sign line. We had completed the Fun Pass online…along with everyone & their brother. There were at least 75 people in front of us in the Fun Pass line. There were about 10 people in the “traditional†line. Our line moved at a fairly steady pace though. Then we had our picture taken and headed on board. We were in our room (which was ready for us) by 1pm.
After we dropped off our bags in our room we headed for lunch on the Lido deck and then wandered around the ship. We actually saw dolphins swimming at the port. I couldn’t believe my eyes. We saw several more in port while we were waiting to debark on the last day. Keep an eye out!
Our room was midship on the Riviera deck. The way the ship was rolling, I was glad we were on the lower deck although we were never sick. Yes, the carpeting was stained in the hallway and the choice of colors in the room was not attractive. It appeared there had been a water problem at one time. However, I didn’t notice a smell and our room was clean. I didn’t notice any mold in the bathroom. The little bowl of toothpaste, razors, floss, shower gel, etc was very nice. Our room steward, Gary, was always pleasant and helped us out with any request we had.
We were assigned the 8:30 seating in the Imagination dining room. Eddie & Sammy took great care of us. They were prompt and brought us two of things we didn’t even ask for. It was great to be able to sample different dishes. Our service in the dining room was excellent! We had 8 people at out table and we loved our tablemates. The Carnival computer did a great job of matching us up. All eight of us were about the same age and had alot of the same interests. Most nights we were the last table out of the dining room. This was not due to service, but because we were all talking so much. We went to shows together and hit the midnight buffet. I feel very lucky to have met such a great group of people. Sammy and Eddie did a wonderful job at dinner. They were terrific and we enjoyed getting to know them. On the last night our table made sure to slip both of them some extra cash so they would know how much we appreciated them.
Monday:
Rain, Rain, Rain. It didn’t just rain, it poured… All Day! The wind was blowing and the ship was rocking. I didn’t see or hear of anyone getting sick, but we could definitely feel it. I was disappointed that I couldn’t sit on deck, but watching a storm at sea was really cool. It was truly amazing to see lightning strike at sea and to watch the swells around the ship. It is a sight I won’t forget.
We met the other posters from Cruise Critic for a meet & mingle in the Drama bar. Thanks Patti (P2Lockhart) for arranging the get together. It was fun to meet everyone and finally put a face with a name.
Other than eating, which I did several times on Monday, I didn’t find too much to do. The rain limited the activities, in my opinion. I’m not a big gambler, so that wasn’t my cup of tea and I had my shore excursions already planned so I didn’t need to attend that talk. I wanted to check out the Trivia, but it was so crowded due to rain that I couldn’t get close enough to hear what was going on.
Tuesday – No rain & sunny
Progreso: We took the Dzibitchaltun ruins tour through Carnival. We took a half hour bus ride to the ruins. Our guide Manuel Espinosa was great. He was incredibly knowledgeable about Progreso, the ruins and the surrounding area. We had never taken a trip to see any ruins so we were not disappointed with Dzib. I have heard that Chichen Itza is amazing, but we just didn’t want to take the bus ride to it. I particularly enjoyed the ride through Progreso. The town has not become touristy like Cozumel yet. There were houses with mules parked outside and signs all over town to “Vote for Ponchoâ€Â. Manuel explained that the shopping on the dock has only been there for a couple of years. He said that many of the farmers are leaving their crops to come to town to try to sell to the tourists. The income that comes from the cruisers is a steady income and they can make more than farming. I feel lucky to have seen Progreso before tourism takes over.
Wednesday – Sunny
Cozumel: We docked at the Puerta Maya pier. This was a much nicer pier than the International Pier. We took a cab ($10) to Playa Corona to snorkel. We got there about 9:45am and got a palapa right by the water. There was no admission fee, but we had to rent masks and fins (we bought the snorkels on the ship $5 each). The masks & fins were $8 per person. The day was beautiful and the snorkeling was good. We had only snorkeled once before and we have never been to Dzul Ha or Chaankanab so I can’t compare. The dos equis and sol beer was $3 and the chips/salsa was $2. Several snorkel excursions came through so it would get pretty crowded, but then clear out again after they left. We stayed here until about 1pm. Then we went back to the ship to change. We headed downtown by cab ($6) to shop and have lunch at Pancho’s Backyard.
Thursday – Sunny & VERY windy
Belize: Tendering to this port was an exercise in frustration. Yes, I know that the carnival shore trips get priority, but it was still an aggravation. We had booked the Coral Breeze excursion and needed to get tender tickets. The Capers stated to be in the Cole Porter Lounge to receive the tickets at 8am. We got to the lounge at 7:30am with Patti & Todd (P2Lockhart) and their family (also on the Coral Breeze excursion). We sat in the front to be sure we were first in line to get the first tender off the ship. Other cruisers started to trickle in and there were about 40 or so people waiting for tender tickets. At about 8:05 two staff members walked into the back of the lounge and said they were there to hand out tender tickets so come on up. At that point a mad rush to get a ticket happened. Luckily, Patti’s husband Todd happened to be at the back of lounge. It all worked out and we were on the first tender, but I thought they could have handled it much better. It was like a free for all for tickets. It didn’t matter that we were there first or how long we had waited. We were told to come back to the Cole Porter lounge at 9am to go board the tender. From 9am – 9:45am we were told it would only be 5 more minutes. That got old pretty quickly.
Finally at 9:45 we were led to our tender. The tender we were on held about 50 – 60 people and was very fast. The people in the back of our tender were drenched before we made it to port. The ones in front were being bounced all over the place. I would suggest finding a seat towards the back, but still under cover.
The Coral Breeze excursion was fabulous and Belize was beautiful. There were only 12 of us booked (all from the Elation and from the CC message boards) and we were picked up at the port and taken on a 30 minute ride to Caye Caulker. The lunch requests were turned in and we headed out to snorkel. When we got in the water we saw many rays. Our guide Leon picked one up that was about two and a half feet in diameter. He then let my husband hold it. He was thrilled. There were a couple of nurse sharks in the area and we saw a few more when we got back in the boat. We were then taken to the coral gardens to snorkel. However, we didn’t get to see too much there. The winds were VERY strong and were creating quite a current. Leon didn’t think it was safe to take us too far over the reef. I was disappointed but I had to agree with him. Better safe than sorry. Lunch on Caye Caulker was very good. We both had the shrimp fajitas. As we were sitting on the island I felt like we were in that Corona commercial. After about an hour of relaxing on the beach and touring the island we all loaded in the boat and headed back to Belize City.
Two of our tablemates were on the ill-fated shore tour to Goff’s Caye purchased through Carnival. They felt there was some sort of mix up since it was New Year’s day and possibly the vendor paid another boat to pick up the passengers. She said the boat was too small and was over loaded with people. When they made it to Goff’s Caye the tour guide said they did not have snorkel equipment for anyone, but the next boat would bring it. She said that the next boat had snorkel equipment for it’s passengers, but none for the previous boat. After they spent an hour or so on the island they were ready to go. As a group they told the guide that they wanted to go back to the ship. Again, he loaded everyone into the small boat and headed back to the ship. As they pulled away from Goff’s Caye, the boat was stuck in the sand since it was too full. They were tugged out to deeper water and were on their way. About halfway there the engines stopped. The captain said the engines were about to overheat and had to be turned off. My tablemate said that she could see the panic start and a couple of women were about to cry. Everyone started putting on their life jackets. The wind was very strong that day and they really did fear the boat would capsize and someone would get hurt. Finally, the captain was able to get them back to the ship. The group went to the purser’s desk and complained. They were originally offered a refund of the shore tour and a $50 credit towards a future cruise. I don’t think that made anyone happy. A meeting was arranged for the next day in the conference room for the passengers involved, the shore tour manager and the hotel manager. They offered the passengers a refund of the price of the tour, a refund for any snorkels or underwater cameras they bought and a refund of 1/7th the price of the cruise. The refund was taken off the sail & sign balance before the end of the cruise. Our tablemates were happy with that and thought it was reasonable.
New Years Eve: After dinner we went to the Lido deck about 11:15pm with our tablemates. The weather was warm and only a little windy. The band was playing and it was a great party. We went up one deck so we could look down at the band. There was a big countdown at midnight and the ship blew it’s horn four times. The entire ship was lit up. Everyone was throwing streamers or blowing their noisemakers. It was just so nice to be celebrating with good company and warm weather! I didn’t see any champagne in the hot tubs, but the crew was passing out plenty of it.
Friday & Saturday
During our two sea days we hung out on deck, soaked up the sun and ate…a lot. We sat at the back of the ship and didn’t have any trouble getting deck chairs. I didn’t witness a lot of chair saving, but I wasn’t really paying much attention either.
What was good:
The service. I cannot say enough about the crew and staff on the ship. We thought they were all very friendly and accommodating, especially in the dining room.
The public rooms. I did not find the public rooms too gaudy. They definitely were themed, but I thought it was interesting to see how each room was done differently.
The elevators. I know others have complained about this, but we did not have any issues with the elevators. Compared to the Monarch, we thought we were in elevator heaven. There were three sets and we rarely had to wait for one.
What needed improvement:
The food. Some nights in the dining room were excellent, (sirloin steak, filet mignon), some were just plain bad (lobster tail) but most were fair. Breakfast at Tiffany’s was ok, but the omelets were good. The pizza and ice cream were always great.
The shows. We went to the Rhythm show, the Spin show, Lubo’s balancing act and the talent show in the Mikado. We only had problems finding seats on two nights and that was our own fault. We had the 8:30 seating for dinner and we sat and talked to our tablemates until about 10:40. By the time we made out way to the Mikado all of the seats were gone. The nights that we made an effort to be in the lounge by 10:20 there were plenty of seats. I thought Lubo’s act was amazing. The things he could balance on his head was unbelievable. The rest of the shows were ok. The midnight comedians were only ok too. I didn’t find them all that funny.
Waiting to debark. We were waiting to hear our tags called while sitting at a table by the pool. We could not hear the announcements. All week we could hear every announcement outside until it was time to leave. I’m not sure why the speakers outside stopped working on the last day.
What was bad:
There wasn’t anything I could classify as just plain bad. Ok, maybe the lobster tails. Other than that, we had a fabulous time.
The following are just my observations and opinions. I really didn’t feel crowded or overrun by children during the cruise. I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of lines and how easily we could move about the ship. The couple of incidents did not in any way lessen our enjoyment of the cruise. However, by day seven (2nd consecutive sea day) I think the kids were starting to get cabin fever. They seemed to be less interested in organized activities and more interested in running throughout the ship at full speed. I think maybe a seven day cruise is too much confinement for some kids.
Kids in the hot tubs: We saw hot tubs completely filled by young kids. I even saw one with water wings on jumping from the side into the hot tub. We didn’t want to get in them, but I felt sorry for any adult that wanted to try.
Kids in the elevators: We saw kids (approx 8-12 yr olds) sitting on the floor of the elevators eating ice cream and holding the door open so the elevator would not move from the floor. We also saw a different set of kids sitting on the elevator floor playing cards. Again making it difficult to use the elevators. We also saw kids playing tag by running down the stairwell and darting on to the atrium elevators at the last second. We were almost trampled trying to get off the elevator.
Debarkation: We had a 4:40pm flight and we were on the Riviera deck. This meant we were the last off the ship. We didn’t care though. Our choices were to wait on the ship or wait at the airport. We had each purchased 2 liters of alcohol and you are allowed 1 liter per person. We had to get in the duty line at 7:30am to pay the duty on the two extra bottles. However, the agent that reviewed our customs card signed off without charging us. He waived the duty and that was a nice surprise. Then we had to wait for our colored tags to be called to go through immigration. Once it was called it took about 20 minutes to get through the line. Then we had to wait for our tags to be called to get off the ship. By 11am we were off and headed back to Galveston.
We had a wonderful time, met great people and would not hesitate to take this cruise again. It made for a memorable New Year’s and fun way to bring in 2004. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Holly
