I've sailed on this ship before, about 3 years ago so I knew not to expect too much. My first cruise with them wasn't all that bad, but nowhere near the quality of the main stream lines. I went again this time because I had a cruise with them canceled because of Covid which they refused to refund my money on, so I was stuck with a cruise credit. So, I decided to just go anyway. I've taken 35 cruises so, I wasn't expecting much, just to be able to get away for 2 days.

Let me start by saying the staff onboard that actually cares for you are very good. The bartenders, waiters, housekeeping, these guys and gals do a great job trying to help you and to meet your expectations. Even the check-in staff is good. However, the cruise line staff on the phones and in guest services really don't care about you as guests and past passengers. The communication is non-existent and cold.

I took a Lyft from my hotel to the port and when we arrived I was told I would have to take a Covid test, which I knew in advance. Having sailed with them before, I thought that like other cruise lines, that the testing would be done in the terminal. Nope. We had to leave the port, cross over the bridge and do a drive through testing. A rapid test. I'm vaccinated so I wasn't worried. The process took almost an hour and a half! My driver was great and I tipped him VERY well as he gladly waited with me in an air conditioned car. Once that was done, we went back to the ship. I spoke with anyone that had the time to listen that worked for the cruise lines, expressing my concern of zero communication about the procedure in advance. If I had known about it, I could have planned for it but nothing was ever communicated to me or others I spoke to onboard as passengers. Read more