Overall - I LOVED this cruise and the ship.
Is this ship massive - YES.
However, it did not feel that way. It probably only took 4 minutes (maybe) to walk from one end of the ship to the other. I looked, and it was only 137 feet (about 45 yards) longer than the Carnival Vista, which I've cruised on previously This ship is more tall and wide, which makes it so massive.
I thought it was laid out very well. While there were tons of people onboard, it did not feel any more crowded than my previous Carnival Vista or Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas cruise. Never had issues finding somewhere to sit and relax, to sit in the buffet restaurant, etc.
Food - Overall pretty good. Lots of included options.
-Buffet for lunch on embarkation day was fantastic. After that, it was a typical lunch buffet of hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks, etc. They did have a chinese section and 2-3 Indian dishes every day for lunch and dinner. Good fruit selection, nice dessert spread. I did feel like the dinner buffet was a little lacking as far as more "dinner" things, but it was still sufficient.
-Main Dining - Pretty good, we did main dining 4 nights. Their french onion soup was fantastic, I had it 3 of the 4 nights. We had signed up for "My Time Dining", and even made reservations, but somehow got put on 6:45PM dining.
-Other options
Basecamp - hamburgers/hot dogs/etc right near the waterpark
Sorrentos - Pizza (yummy)
Pearl Cafe - their coffee shop with sandwiches, salads and desserts. Coffee is an additional charge. We did get the $30 punch card, which amounts to 15 single espresso drinks or 7 double. We got a total of 10 or 11 drinks fo the $30 (a steal).
Aquadome Market - this has 4 concepts inside - but I never ate there and should have gotten photos.
Park Cafe - a deli/salad place (never ate there)
El Loco Fresh - Burritos/tacos/nachos - pretty good
Surfside Eatery- another buffet (didn't eat there).
Plus all the additional cost options (I didn't eat at any. Someone said the hibachi was the best they ever had - but I wasn't paying $70+ per person for hibachi).
Entertainment: Overall really good.
-The ice skating show was really good, despite the description having to do with the periodic table of elements. Really glad we went
-Wizard of Oz - fantastic. A little long (100 minutes), but it was really well done
-Aquatic Show - this was mostly good. I was hot and didn't feel fabulous, and the seating was pretty uncomfortable. But it was decent.
We canceled our comedy club night as we were tired.
Activities:
I did 4 of the 6 water slides, and those were pretty good. They had quite a few hot tub and pool areas onboard, but I only got in the adults only pool once. They had mini-golf, flow rider, rock climbing wall, ice skating included. Some other things had additional costs.
Service:
I thought it was great. I hated we couldn't bus our own tables, I felt bad just walking off and leaving them there, but there was always someone to clean up tables quickly.
Casino:
Massive. Really well laid out and not crowded at all. Loved that it had a smoking and non-smoking section.
Gym:
Massive. Was busy in the mornings. I also loved the walking/jogging track. It was 2.4 laps to make a mile, whereas some cruise ships its 10-12 laps. It was on Deck 5 and went around the entire ship.
I never made it to the spa/salon area. I just kept hearing (across all cruise lines) how pushy the people are even during appointments and that just isn't my thing. Unlike other cruise lines, I didn't have anyone ask once about the spa.
Elevators - they had 2 banks of elevators with 12 elevators each. You pushed your floor on a keypad and it told you what elevator to go to . Found this to be pretty efficient, especially on disembarkation day. The past 2 cruises I have taken my luggage down 8-9 flights of stairs because I couldn't ever get on an elevator (even trying to go up). Granted we did disembark later (8:15AM), but we got on the first elevator without issues.
Embarkation - we were out of the Uber and on the ship in under 20 minutes. Disembarkation was the same.
Perfect Day at Cococay - The island was really large and had lots of different areas. While renting the private cabana was expensive, it was SO NICE. The "South Beach" area doesn't have waves, and so you could lay on a mat peacefully in the ocean while barely moving. With the private cabana there were not many people in that area, so the beach wasn't crowded and our attendant was very attentive. I would have spent hours in the ocean if my white arse skin could have handled it (instead it was an hour max). This was the highlight of my trip besides the plane watching at Maho Bay.
If you have any questions let me know.
