Cozumel Buggy Tour

Posted on February 16, 2024 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Meraviglia in Cozumel

On past visits to Cozumel we’ve gone to the mainland a couple times for Tulum and cave snorkeling, done the snorkel & beach break, and gone to beach bars and Chankanaab on our own. For something different this time we booked a dune buggy tour around the island with snorkel break through Vacations to Go. The same or a similar excursion was also offered through the cruise ship. Pre-covid a lot of places had all sorts of last-minute things available on shore for people who hadn’t booked anything, but post covid at previous ports it had just been island taxi tours. Not at Cozumel though. All the little stands offering pretty much anything Cozumel has to offer are back up and in business. Taxis abound too so getting out to any of the little beach bars or Chankanaab is no problem either.

Punta Langosta sends cruise ship passengers through a mall when they leave the port

Most of our previous port stops in Cozumel have been at Puerta Maya, with one at the International Cruise Terminal. This time MSC Meraviglia docked at the one place we hadn’t been before – Punta Langosta. The other two are quite near each other, but Punta Langosta is about 4 kilometers away. Puerta Maya and the international terminal both have shops within the port, but Punta Langosta exits passengers through a mall. Kind of like nearly every tourist attraction everywhere that exits through a gift shop, except that the cruise terminal sends you to an entire mall – on the second floor where you have to walk past a lot of shops before finding a way down to the street level.

fake shark photo stand at the meeting place for our tour

The meeting point for our tour was behind the Hard Rock guitar at Royal Village across from the international terminal, an easy walk from either of the other two docks, but a long walk or a taxi ride from ours. One advantage of booking through the ship rather than an outside source would be transportation provided from where the ship docks. There was a platform with a giant fake shark set up for photos where everyone sat to wait for the tour. We all had to get up once when somebody wanted to take a picture.

mustangs and dune buggies at the Sky Reef snorkel stop

As usual with these tours, there’s always somebody who books it and doesn’t show up so the departure time comes and goes while they wait and wait until finally the tour leaves late after they give up waiting. It was booked as a buggy tour, but half the cars were mustangs rather than the advertised dune buggies, which resembled Volkswagen Bugs. The mustangs looked pretty new and sleek, but the buggies had definitely seen better days.

we had a purple buggy

It was supposed to be a buggy tour so we hopped into one of those, but in hindsight we should have picked a mustang because the buggy had to be wrestled the whole time to stay on the road, had sticky gears it didn’t want to shift into, no doors, and the rubber trim around the edge of the opening that would have been a window if it had any glass tended to come off and have to be pressed back in place every time anybody climbed in or out. The front seat belts were set for a very large person and had no way to adjust them any smaller, and only one of the buckles worked in the back seat. The buggies also had a hard time keeping up with the mustangs when the drive involved long stretches of road.

Sky Reef beach bar

This is just a guess with no facts to back it up whatsoever, but it seems that if you booked this excursion through the cruise line the cars might be in better condition because the cruise companies wouldn’t want the liability for their passengers driving substandard cars, and if you booked it straight from one of the walk-up booths onshore they might possibly be even worse as they wouldn’t even have third party booking companies like viator, trip advisor, or vacations to go to answer to. Those companies have no actual control over the vendors, just customers who may make complaints or post bad reviews about their tours online.

beach at Sky Reef

We started out with 3 each of mustangs and buggies, but after an unscheduled stop on the roadside they said one of the buggies was leaking gas. There were 2 people in it. One joined us and the other went to a mustang, leaving the buggy abandoned there assumably for someone from their company to pick up. After he took a short turn driving (that he didn’t want) we wondered if their buggy had really been leaking or if that was just an excuse to leave it behind because he couldn’t really drive it. It was a very scary stretch of road with him at the wheel. It felt like we were going to hit every car that went by or spin out and end up in the bushes, but he managed to keep it on the road and in our lane (just barely). He hardly spoke any English so we couldn’t talk to him much since we don’t speak any of whatever eastern European language he spoke.

fish at Sky Reef

The blurb about the excursion when we booked it said the snorkeling was last, even going so far as to say people could stay there after the tour left if they wished, but would have to get their own taxi ride back to the port if they did. So we were all very surprised when our first stop was for snorkeling. We went to Sky Reef, which is one of the little beach bars where we have been before. There’s not a whole lot of coral there, but there are quite a lot of fish. As soon as you put your face in the water at the bottom of the stairway for getting in and out of the sea you see a whole school of sergeant majors that seem to always hang out there.

sergeant major fish and small coral

They have a pretty big snorkeling/swimming area with a boundary of rope and buoys. There’s boat traffic beyond the buoys at the outside edge, so staying within them is required, and also important to insure not getting ran down by a speeding boat. Within the boundaries there are some areas with more fish than others. Out in the deepest part by the buoys is not where the most fish are found. They’re in a bit shallower where there’s a little more structure on the bottom, and a lot of small corals.

puffer fish

There aren’t any large corals or rocky outcroppings, just more of an uneven bottom with some dips in the rocky floor. Not a lot of structure, but it seems to be enough to attract a lot of fish, and quite a variety of types in various colors and sizes. We even saw a puffer fish there, which is something we haven’t seen all that often.

snorkeling in Cozumel

We have our own snorkel gear and went right out snorkeling when we first got there. They were supposed to have the gear handed out to people who didn’t have their own and a guided tour going for those who wanted it within the first 15 minutes of what was supposed to be an hour’s stay, but we were already done before the guided group even got into the water so our stay there went long beyond the hour it was supposed to be. Sky Reef is a nice place and hanging out there is pleasant enough, but when you have a tour with more places to go there needs to be some sort of time management to keep the tour on track. Assuming the snorkeling would be last I hadn’t brought anything to change into afterword, but needn’t have worried about being wet for the rest of the tour as we stayed there so long we were dry before the tour finally moved on.

fish at Sky Reef

We hadn’t been over to the wilder side of Cozumel before. Most of the population and tourist attractions are on the sheltered side across from Playa del Carmen on the mainland. The other side is mostly jungle with open-water beaches that get a lot bigger waves and have rip currents so going out too deep is not advised. At least that’s what our guide said.

paved trail between the road and the ocean

In some places the jungle was creeping over the road in need of maintenance to chop it back. There was a paved path that looked like a small road between the main road and the beach, but since it had signs saying no motor vehicles or scooters it must have been some sort of trail. Cops are apparently either exempt from the no motor vehicle thing on that trail or they just don’t care because we saw some driving on it.

vultures on a roof at the lunch stop

From the road a lot of the jungle looked like palmettos, but when we made it to the lunch stop the tops of the trees there were about as high as the bottom of the second story deck where we had lunch, which I think would be pretty tall for palmettos. The ones I’ve seen before in Florida were more of a shrub than a tree. Could be a different type though, or some sort of palm tree.

restaurant and gift shop in the middle of nowhere

The lunch included with our tour was supposed to be ready when we got there for what was scheduled as a 40-minute stop. It took about half an hour before they even served it so of course we ended up staying there for over an hour. The best part about that stop were the kudamundis running wild there. They mainly were in the jungle all around the outdoor restaurant deck, but they would come up on the deck and run around by the tables looking for handouts.

coatimundi

They would sit up and beg just like dogs and were adorably cute. They seemed to come up from a compost pile they liked to raid behind the building that the deck sat on top of. The restroom (in a different building) at that place left much to be desired as it had no toilet paper in any of the stalls and about half the toilets were missing their seats.

coatimundi

Kudamundis (aka coatimundi, coati, or Mexican raccoon) are in the same family as raccoons, but with a longer snout and slimmer body. There are 4 types that live in different regions down into South America, but the Cozumel coati is unique to Cozumel and not found anywhere else. These adorable critters are omnivores that forage both in the ground and in trees, mostly eating fruit, spiders, and small animals. They seemed pretty happy with human food too that they found digging through a garbage pile and begging from customers at the restaurant. Seeing them was the highlight of this tour.

ocean view from the lunch stop

There was an ocean beach across the street from the restaurant, but we didn’t have time to do much more than look at it. Maybe that was all a lot of people did because it had a frame set up for taking photos from the top without even going down the stairway to the beach.

ocean beach

We were supposed to make a stop for tequila tasting on the way back to the port area after lunch, but since we were running so late that stop got skipped to make sure everyone got back to their ships on time. We had about an hour to spare when we got back to ours (which was the farthest from the starting/ending point), but some of the other ships may have had earlier all-aboard times plus the guides don’t want to cut it too close when running a non-ship sponsored tour as cruise ships only wait for their own tours if they come back late. Also considering that all of the other stops ran overtime an hour probably wouldn’t have been enough time for any stop on this tour. It was a fun tour, but better time management and easier to drive vehicles in better condition would definitely have improved it.

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2024

Other Adventures in Cozumel

Cozumel Cruise Ship Ports

Cozumel, Mexico

Aquarium Bar

Atlantis Submarine

Cave Snorkeling

Chankanaab Park

Palancar Reef Snorkel

Playa Mia Beach Bar

Sky Reef Beach Bar

Tulum Mayan Ruins

Posted in Caribbean, Meraviglia, Mexico, MSC, Port Cities, Ports of Call, Shore Excursions | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Tree of Life

Posted on February 14, 2024 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Tree of Life

On the west coast of Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula above the beach at Kalaloch Campground in Olympic National Park, a large spruce tree clings to life on either side of a gap in the hillside, the ground beneath it having collapsed decades ago. How many decades I can’t say, with just decades being the closest thing to an answer to how long it has been that way that google would provide.

Kalaloch Beach

Though it is far from pretty much anything, if you happen to be in the area getting there is easy. It’s definitely something worth seeing since it’s such a unique and unusual quirk of nature. The campground is right alongside Highway 101, the main road around the Olympic peninsula. The closest town is Forks, which is almost 34 miles north of Kalaloch Campground.

stairway from the day use parking lot to the beach

A pathway from the day use parking lot leads to the beach and the tree is just north of the steep stairway leading from that trail to the beach. It’s quite a short walk along the beach, maybe 50 yards or so.

the tree of life is about at the middle of this photo where there’s a gap in the cliff

The small cliff rising above the driftwood covered beach is topped by trees all along the way, but none of the others hang in the precarious position that the tree of life does.

Tree of Life

Most photos of the tree show the view from the beach, a view that shows the tree barely clinging to both sides of a gap with bare roots dangling across the middle underneath. From this view it appears that the tree is barely clinging in there and likely to fall at any time, which is why it was given the name Tree of Life – hanging onto its life against all odds while erosion continuously takes ever more soil away from its roots. Its shape also somewhat resembles the tree of life from Avatar and some renditions of the original tree of life.

the tree has an extensive root system on both sides

It’s high enough above the ground that people can walk under it. From the underside you can see that it is more secure than it appears from the front with an extensive root system reaching into the ground along both sides of the gap for the entire length of the area where you can walk underneath it, which goes back quite a ways. Probably at least 12 feet.

under the tree of life

Before going there I had read there was a creek underneath it, but it was dry when we were there. Apparently the creek came about as the result of runoff from a culvert put in near Kalaloch Lodge in the 1960’s and is largely responsible for the erosion under the tree.

the tree of life has some massive limbs crossing the gap

From underneath the tree of life you can see how massive some of the limbs that support it over the gap are. The tree is a Sitka Spruce, which is a type of evergreen so its foliage stays green year-round.

view of the tree of life from underneath

From the area in the gap behind and under the tree you get a different and interesting view of it when looking up. The walls of both sides of the gap are covered in its roots, and they dangle into the open space as well.

Piper in a driftwood house

Making structures from the plentiful driftwood on the beach near the tree appeared to be a very popular activity. There was quite a variety of them among the driftwood lining the top of that beach. All of the driftwood is near the short cliff. The rest of the beach area extending out to the ocean was just sand other than the many people on the beach, some dogs, and a few seagulls.

driftwood on Kalaloch Beach near the tree of life

Kalaloch beach is one of the few places where dogs are allowed in Olympic National Park so there were quite a few of them there. Park passes are required to park in the day use lot. It’s best to get one online in advance as the booth in the parking lot is only open a few hours a day. There was a box where people could pay in an envelope, but at the time we were there the empty envelopes and ones with money in them were all in the same box that anyone could open. Normally the envelopes are outside of a locked box in those sorts of places, but the lock was broken and everything was in the box. I don’t know if it is always that way or if it had been recently broken and not fixed yet.

lots of people taking photos of the tree of life

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2024
Posted in USA, Washington | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Endicott Arm

Posted on February 9, 2024 by LBcruiseshipblogger

sailing through Endicott Arm

I’ve been on a couple previous cruises to Alaska that were scheduled to go down Tracy Arm, but ended up in Endicott Arm instead because the entrance to Tracy Arm was blocked by icebergs. In contrast, Quantum of the Seas was scheduled to go to Endicott Arm. Perhaps because the ship was too big for Tracy Arm, or maybe just because so many early season cruises get diverted to Endicott Arm that they just scheduled it there. Whatever the reason, since that’s where the ship was already going it didn’t have any alternative place to go for glacier watching.

Margerie Glacier 2018 and 2013

Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay in 2018 on the left and 2013 on the right

The trip down Endicott Arm started very early in the morning, with the expected arrival at the glacier a couple hours later. Most Alaska cruises have a glacier day somewhere, whether it’s Tracy or Endicott Arm, Glacier Bay, or the way more impressive Hubbard Glacier. The Tracy Arm cruises I took that ended up in Endicott Arm were one of my very early cruises on the Norwegian Sun and one with my sisters on Ruby Princess. I went to Glacier Bay twice on Holland America Westerdam. The glaciers there had noticeably retreated in the 2018 trip from where they had been when I first saw them in 2013. Hubbard Glacier I saw from the Oosterdam. If you’re booking an Alaska cruise specifically to see glaciers, Hubbard is definitely the place to go.

Hubbard Glacier

several ice floes feed into Hubbard – an immense tidewater glacier

On all those previous trips the ship would park broadside to the glacier, sit there for about half an hour, and then do a 180 so the other side faced it. That way anyone with a balcony got a chance to see it from their own room if they didn’t want to find a public area for glacier viewing – and those with rooms at the back of the ship could see it from their balconies as the ship sailed away. It also gave people plenty of time to wander around the ship and get views of the glacier from various different places.

the scenery is great in Endicott Arm even if you don’t make it to the glacier at the end

We got up early enough on the Quantum to have plenty of time to see the glacier once we got to the end of Endicott Arm. We figured on going to breakfast once that was done. Dawes Glacier is the name of the one at the end of Endicott Arm. Most of the other ships we had been on either made some sort of public announcements regarding things to see along the way as well as when to expect arrival and departure at the actual glacier, or had a specific place to go onboard where that information would be provided. Quantum stayed silent.

scenery in Endicott Arm

We thought we were sailing into Endicott Arm until Melissa mentioned the ship having done a 180 earlier in the morning when she’d taken a stroll out on the top deck. It wouldn’t have had any reason to do that unless it was bailing on going to the glacier and heading back out. We’d gone to the girls cabin for glacier watching since they had a balcony and we didn’t. They also had internet so as soon as she could get a signal Mel checked a mapping app, which confirmed that we were on the way out rather than into Endicott Arm. Which explained why we never reached the glacier as it kept getting later past the time we should have been there. There never was any sort of formal announcement about missing the glacier. They just left that for people to figure out for themselves. Or maybe hoped that people would think they had gotten there early and everyone had slept through it. Which would never have happened because a bunch of people had staked out the front row seats in the solarium way early so they’d get them and would have known the second the ship turned around. Mel is a newbie to cruising and hadn’t been to Alaska before. She hadn’t realized what was going on when the ship did the 180 so until she mentioned it we were unaware.

there’s lots of little ice bergs floating around when in the vicinity of glaciers

Unlike Glacier Bay, which has a lot of glaciers that you pass by, or Hubbard which is huge and visible for miles before you get there, Dawes Glacier at the end of Endicott Arm isn’t huge and the passageway is narrow so you don’t see it from a great distance away. There’s not a lot of other glaciers dotting the hills on the way there either.

Sumdum Glacier

We did think we would see Sumdum Glacier on the way out, but hadn’t been looking for it since we thought we were on the way in. We spotted a hillside glacier and took some photos. As soon as we knew we were on the way out of Endicott Arm rather than into it we figured out that had probably been Sumdum Glacier. (It would have been on the other side of the ship on the way in.) At the time we weren’t positive it was Sumdum Glacier since they weren’t announcing anything, but I haven’t seen mention of any other glaciers in Endicott Arm anywhere and the mountains around it look exactly the same as the ones in anyone else’s photos of that glacier so that’s what it had to be. It’s not called that because somebody back in the past thought it was just some dumb glacier. It sits on Mount Sumdum. In Tlingit the name means big noise, likely due to the noise made when glaciers calve. There can be a lot of cracking and rumbling before a piece drops off.

leaving Endicott Arm behind

They did not say why the ship turned around before getting all the way to Dawes Glacier, which isn’t surprising since other than listing approximate times in the schedule for that day they hadn’t said anything about it at all. There must have been too many icebergs floating around or a lot of ice near the glacier blocking the way. Whether or not a smaller ship could have got through I have no idea. As cruise ships have gotten bigger over the years so have the size of ships going to Alaska. Way back when we went there on the Sun it was the biggest ship around everywhere we went that trip. Now it’s one of the smallest in Norwegian’s fleet. Though they didn’t make it down Tracy Arm, the smaller ships I was on did get all the way to the end of Endicott Arm without any trouble. It’s a good thing glaciers weren’t our priority on this trip. The fine print of any cruise always mentions something about itineraries being subject to change. This one specifically said something about going all the way to Dawes Glacier at the end of Endicott Arm if it could get there safely, but never made any promises that it actually would.

we didn’t actually make it all the way to Dawes Glacier regardless of what the photo says

We happened across a photographer out on the top deck. Sometimes the photos they take are just photos, but other times they add stuff to them. The ones from that day must have intended to have been done while the ship was at the glacier because they added a boarder around them that said Dawes Glacier even though we didn’t actually make it there.

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2024
Posted in Alaska, Quantum of the Seas, Royal Caribbean, USA | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Hilo, Hawaii Cruise Port

Posted on February 2, 2024 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Noordam in Hilo

Hilo Cruise Port is on Hawaii’s big island (Hawaii Island) which has 6 volcanos. Some are active and some are not. Only 5 of them are above the surface of the water. The 6th volcano, Mahukona is extinct, submerged 1200 feet under the ocean, and 30 miles off the coast buried in lava from other volcanos and coral so it’s not surprising this one wasn’t included when our tour guide at that port said the island had 5 volcanos. Most information I’ve seen only mentioned 5 volcanos on the big island, but since the 6th one is buried underwater 30 miles offshore and the rest are actually on the island that makes sense.

volcano erupting

Kilauea is the most active volcano on earth. Sometimes people can see lava in the crater or flowing from this volcano, but there was only steam while we were there. This volcano erupted continuously for 35 years from 1983 – 2018. Eruptions are more sporadic now with the latest information available from Volcanos National Park, which this volcano resides within. Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano having last erupted 3500 years ago. Measured from the sea floor it is the tallest mountain on earth, though its peak altitude is nowhere near the tallest mountain measured from sea level to the top. It has a lake near the summit which is one of the highest in the USA.

monkeypod tree

Mauna Loa is the second most active volcano in the world after Kilauea. It has erupted at least 33 times since 1843 with its most recent eruption occurring in 2022. Hualalai erupts about 2-3 times every 1000 years with its most recent eruption in 1801. Kohala last erupted 60,000 years ago and is considered extinct.

port crew using a forklift to move the lines when the ship docked

Hilo is on the rainy side of the island so there is a lot of lush greenery. Mango, lychee, and monkey pod trees line the highway. Since Hawaii is a state in the USA, currency is in US dollars. November is the rainiest month and June the driest. February is the coldest month and August the hottest. Temperatures range from lows in the low 60’s F to highs in the high 80’s F. The population of Hilo is over 45,000. Population of the big island is over 200,000.

port building

The ship docks in a container port. There’s a small general store just outside of the port gate. Be prepared to show your ID as well as your ship card when entering. Like most US ports, the security guard at the gate will ask for it. They also ask for it at the port building so even if you don’t walk outside the gate you will still need to show it to get back to the ship.

Farmers Market shuttle

The town is a couple miles from the port. It’s walkable, but for those wanting to save time or who don’t want to walk there is transportation. On the day we were there they had a free shuttle to a farmer’s market in town. There are also taxis and ubers in the area and a free city bus. The city bus stops at the airport too, so it takes a bit more time to complete a circuit than other modes of transportation. The internet says there’s a free shuttle to Walmart, but it was not running the day we were there. Walmart is a couple miles beyond the main part of town so the farmer’s market shuttle would have been the better choice to get there anyway.

hula dancers

There wasn’t much at the port itself other than a small area inside the port building offering information. Other than a couple hula dancing girls to entertain people waiting for excursions most of the rest of the space inside the building was used for staging the ship’s shore excursions.

Hoppa on Hoppa off bus

At the exit from the building there were people with signs offering last-minute tours. There was also a bus parked near where the excursion busses and other shuttles pick up passengers. This bus had hoppa on hoppa off painted on its side. Not hop on hop off as is found elsewhere – this one said hoppa. Just outside the port area a building marked tours appeared to be the hoppa on hoppa off base as it had more such busses in various sizes parked in front of it. Tours from the port on hoppa on hoppa off went to places like a chocolate factory, a Japanese garden, and a waterfall, or on a longer tour out to a volcano.

Copyright My Cruise Stories 2024
Posted in Holland America, Noordam, Pacific Ocean & Islands, Port Cities, Ports of Call, USA | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Food on Wonder of the Seas

Posted on January 26, 2024 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Wonder of the Seas

Over the course of many years and many cruises we’ve noticed that the quality of the food even on the same cruiseline and ship often depends on that ship’s current chef. My first sailing on Holland America’s Veendam brought the best cruise ship food I’ve ever had, but sailing again on the very same ship several years later the food was just ordinary. On Symphony of the Seas the chef came up with all sorts of fancy, tasty, and sometimes off-menu desserts that were both gluten and dairy free, but the chef on Wonder of the Seas was apparently not so talented. On that ship they said it was impossible to make such things.

dining room

The head waiter was awesome, but he can’t magically make food appear that the chef won’t cook. The dining room food was generally good, and they did take pre-orders for the next night so they could make gluten and lactose free versions of dinners that otherwise are not, so it was just special-order desserts that were lacking.

pizza at Sorrentos

The pizza at Sorrentos was quite good and they made gluten free without any problems. They do have a limited selection of toppings, but that’s for everyone, not just gluten-free. On Wonder you could have the same toppings as anyone else on a gluten-free pizza, unlike Quantum, another of Royal Caribbean’s ships where gluten-free pizzas were only offered in plain cheese even though they had other toppings available for regular pizzas. Lines could get quite long at Sorrentos, but we beat the crowd and got right in the day we had lunch there. Lines at the start of lunchtime on Wonder were even longer at El Loco Fresh, which had been our favorite lunch spot on Symphony. We tried going there later one day after the line had cleared and the food was as tasty as I remembered.

lunch buffet at the Solarium Bistrp

The Solarium Bistro kind of turned out to be our go-to lunch spot on this ship. It had good food served buffet style, though much smaller than the main buffet. It also did not have the crowds that some of the other places had at lunchtime which was one of the reasons we liked to go there. The line was not very long and we could always get a table.

Solarium Bistro

Table cleaning wasn’t generally done promptly at any of Wonder’s eateries. Maybe they weren’t able to expand the post-covid workforce as fast as they increased the passenger count or couldn’t find any experienced people who knew to go clean them often, or perhaps just hadn’t had time to find a balance in the workforce on a fairly new ship. There were about 400 new crew that came aboard the same day we did. Perhaps a lot of them were new to working on cruise ships and didn’t really know what to do yet, which seems likely as the tables did get cleaned more frequently toward the end of the cruise than they had at the beginning.

buffet on Wonder of the Seas

The other Royal Caribbean ships we’ve been on each had a whole gluten free section in the buffet, but Wonder did not. Being their biggest ship at that time you would think it would have the biggest buffet, but it actually seemed quite small and often crowded with empty tables hard to come by, dirty or not. On the deck plans it looks about the same size as Symphony’s buffet, but it felt a lot smaller. Whether that was due to the different layout, or to the fact that there were a lot more people onboard Wonder than there were when I was on Symphony I don’t know.

Wonderland is an Alice in Wonderland themed restaurant with a view of the boardwalk

Wonder has quite a lot of premium (aka pay-extra) eateries, but we didn’t try any of them so I can’t say whether they are worth the extra money or not. Premium eateries on the ship include The Mason Jar, which serves southern comfort food, Chops Grille steakhouse, Giovanni’s Italian Kitchen, Izumi sushi and Japanese food, Hooked seafood, 150 Central Park for seasonal and elegant dinners, Johnny Rockets for burgers, fries, & milkshakes, Wonderland for imaginative cuisine, Vitality Café at the spa, which is a juice bar with healthy juices and smoothies and homemade granola, and a candy shop called Sugar Beach.

Sorrentos

There are also a lot of places that serve food at no extra cost. The main ones are of course the dining room and buffet, or for suite guests the Coastal Kitchen. Other free eateries besides the already mentioned Sorrentos pizza, El Loco Fresh Mexican, and Solarium Bistro are the Dog House hot dogs, Central Park Café, and a soft-serve ice cream station near the pools.

promenade cafe

The Promenade Cafe has free sandwiches and desserts, but the specialty coffee and tea there costs extra. The one on Symphony always had several gluten free dessert options, but the one on Wonder never had any.

duck a l’orange in the dining room

Like most cruise ships, it would be hard to go hungry on this one. There are so many different options of places to eat and varieties of types of food that pretty much anyone should be able to find something they like. Even people who are on very restrictive diets can find food by having all of their meals in the dining room and ordering ahead so food can be altered to meet their needs.

lamb in the dining room

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Posted in Cruise Food, Royal Caribbean, Shipboard Life, Wonder of the Seas | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Shows on MSC Meraviglia

Posted on January 19, 2024 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Meraviglia and other ships in Costa Maya

The main theater cast on MSC Meraviglia was quite busy performing a show in the main theater nearly every night. Out of an 11 day cruise I think they had just one night off, with 6 different shows throughout the cruise and 2-3 performances each night. Most other lines have various guest performances several times within a week’s cruise so the cast has more nights off and less shows to learn and practice. Meraviglia also had a smaller secondary theater with a minimal surcharge and one or the other of two different shows having a couple nightly performances most nights as well. There was a different cast for this theater than for the main one.

dome show

The domed ceiling of the ship’s promenade area was a video screen which usually displayed one of a variety of still designs. There were also brief dome shows scheduled throughout the day where one of a number of different videos showed anything from random colors to a submarine voyage to a real-time view of the same lighthouse show as a real lighthouse had going near the dock just outside the ship while it was at MSC’s private island called Ocean Cay. Sometimes in the evening they had a camera out in the promenade that would display whoever walked nearest to it in a series of picture frames along the dome.

singers in a stage show

We went to the main theater most nights. During the first 7 days of our cruise reservations were required, which could be booked at no charge either through their phone app or through an interactive screen in front of the theater. The middle of the 3 nightly performances was the most popular and nearly always booked full. The last 4 days when the ship was far less crowded people could go to either of the two nightly performances without any advance reservation. The shows there were of the typical cruise ship production type with singing and dancing. Some shows were better than others. Most were entertaining, but there was one we thought was rather boring.

roller skaters in the COOL show

They had one show called COOL that had the addition of a talented pair of roller skaters as well as the singers and dancers. Throughout the various shows some of the cast members stand out more than others. Of course the spotlight was on the star dancers and singers during their routines in each show, but when they weren’t highlighted during their special routines some of the background cast stood out more.

Happy Guy is on the far left

In particular one of the male dancers who we thought of as Happy Guy because he always looked like he was having so much fun and was quite enthusiastic in every performance. He always looked directly at the audience whenever facing the right way, wearing a huge smile on his face. Then there was one of the female dancers who was probably totally unaware of whether there was any audience in the theater seats or if the place was completely empty. Her eyes always focused up toward the ceiling and her dancing looked as stiff and awkward as her tight-lipped facial expression. Unlike one of the three female singers who could have as easily been a dancer as a singer since her dancing was better than that of several of the dancers. In one of the shows happy guy and awkward girl were paired up together in one of the dances. Somehow they made it work even though their styles couldn’t have been more opposite.

aerialists and others in the Carousel Theater

Besides the main theater with free shows, Mervagilia’s other theater with a nominal fee is called the Carousel Theater. You get a drink included in the price of the show and since the price is not much more than the price of a drink the shows are pretty cheap. It’s just a pre-made drink that you pick up from a tray on the way in. It’s take it or leave it on the drinks. There’s no option to order anything different than the two choices offered with alcohol and one without. The Carousel Theater has a round stage. The stage has a spinning platform that covers most of the surface area, other than a ring around the outer edge. Seats go nearly all the way around, with the best seats being those that face the front of the stage because they get a straight on view of the backgrounds and the performers tend to face that way more often. Some of the seats are at nearly the backside of the stage and others extend far out to the sides. There’s a lot of aerialists in these performances, which tend to drift over the side seating on their way to the main stage. You have to walk through the casino to get to that theater and the casino is not smoke free. The line to get in while waiting for the doors to open is also in the casino and if you don’t get there early you won’t get a good seat. Unfortunately they don’t open the doors until nearly time for the show so anyone desiring a decent seat is stuck waiting in line in the sometimes smokey casino.

Houdini show in the Carousel Theater

The first time we went there we saw the Houdini show. We were too far back in the line to get good seats that time and were on the backside of the stage where we were behind some of the scenery and facing away from the panel above the stage that got all the video effects. We could still see most of the stage performers and all the many aerialists, though more often than not we saw the backs of the people onstage. Even though it was a Houdini show there weren’t any real magic tricks. Just a few simulations – like fake knife throwing with the Houdini character standing against a wooden background from which knives would pop out as if they’d been thrown into it when other people pretended to throw them. He also did a fake strait jacket escape while hanging upside down from an aerialist apparatus surrounded by a sheer curtain with sound and light effects that made it look like a tank of water.

strong guys at the rock show in the Carousel Theater

When we went to the Rock Circus show we knew to get there earlier, so we got better seats near the front of the stage. We could see the whole stage and the video wall from there. Regardless of whether or not we’d had better seats, the Rock Circus was by far the better of the two shows at that theater, but the price is so minimal it’s no stretch of the budget to go to both. Tickets for the theater can be purchased online before the cruise, but reservations for the particular performance you attend have to be made onboard. The Rock Circus show had lots of talented performers with a variety of aerialists as well as dancers, acrobats, and a singer for a fast-paced lively show with colorful lighting effects. It’s the same people as in the Houdini show, the rock one is just a better show.

dome show

When the ship stops at Ocean Cay there’s a special performance after dark – a light show on the island’s lighthouse. Our first stop there was just for a day and everyone was back onboard for the lighthouse show as the ship left soon after. The second time the ship overnighted there and they had two performances of the lighthouse show with a beach party lasting from the start of the first show to the end of the second about 2 hours later so people could watch either from the ship or from shore.

lighthouse show at Ocean Cay

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Sitka Sea Walk and Totem Park

Posted on January 12, 2024 by LBcruiseshipblogger

ships in Sitka (Quantum of the Seas and Westerdam)

About a week before our Alaskan cruise on Quantum of the Seas we received notice that the port stop in Skagway had been switched to Sitka on account of the third cruise ship dock in Skagway not being done getting dug out from under a landslide yet. The port hours were the same as what Skagway had been scheduled for. Sitka was a tender port the first time I went there. The second time it had a dock near some sort of boat repair place that I heard people refer to as the old cruise dock. This time it docked in the same location, but with a new cruise pier that held two ships and a good-sized building on shore with shops inside. The random assortment of old busses parked out front has been replaced with a fleet of new busses to shuttle passengers to town, which is just over 5 1/2 miles from the port. A couple old boats off to the side were all I saw that remained of the old boat place.

view from the seawalk

Prior to the port stop there whoever makes shipwide announcements onboard warned of long shuttle lines after the second ship arrived at the dock shortly after us, but Quantum docked early and people could go out before 7am. The other ship docked with us turned out to be Holland America Westerdam, the one cruise ship I have spent more total time on than any other. By the time 9:00 rolled around and we were ready to go any lines that might have once been there had cleared up enough that people could just walk up to a bus and get on, but not so much that you had to wait for enough people to arrive to fill it. So just the right amount of people. There was another bus waiting just behind the one filling so as soon as it left the next one began to board. They seemed to have a constant stream of busses at both ends, at least they did while we were in the area at either end.

Jennifer’s sea lion photo

There’s a lot of space in between leaving the ship and getting to the shuttle. First you walk up the dock. Then there’s a little bit of a hill between the dock and the cruise terminal building. There were people grouping up pre-booked excursions there for both ships. Just beyond that area there were a few people with signs for last-minute excursions. Actually mostly just signs, the people who had been with them having mostly already departed. The one with a wildlife watching boat tour followed by a land tour sounded good. The price scared most of us away, though Jen and Mel decided to go for it. By the texts they sent us it looked like they were thoroughly enjoying it. They saw some sea lions and an otter, but no whales.

Barbara at the totem park

We found a sign for one that was somewhat like a hop on hop off bus with a variety of stops for just $25, but nobody was at that sign, just brochures with a phone number to call or text. It turned out to be just one bus that had already left and would be going around town for awhile before returning. So not as convenient as an actual hop on hop off with a fleet of busses frequently coming by at each stop. They said if we wanted to join it we could take the free shuttle to town and call again there, but we didn’t really want to be stuck anywhere for long periods of time waiting for one lone bus to come back. Perhaps if things work out for them in the future they will be able to add more busses.

mom and me at the start of the seawalk

When we got off the shuttle at the visitor’s center in town we saw other signs where people had been offering things to do. Again not many still had anyone manning the sign, and the one or two that did were quite expensive. We did not go inside the visitor’s center, but there’s probably a lot of information there about other options of things to do. The seawalk starts right near the visitor’s center.

bottom of a totem pole

We decided to walk to the totem park. None of us had been there on any previous visits to Sitka. It’s a bit less than a mile from the shuttle stop in town. It would be a quick walk without dawdling to take photos and wander into interesting places like an old church along the way, but we had plenty of time and nowhere we had to be.

volcano view from the seawalk

The sea walk between the shuttle stop and the park has lots of beautiful scenery and views of Mount Edgecomb, Sitka’s maybe not so inactive volcano. The volcano hasn’t erupted any time in recent history and was previously classified as dormant. Due to a recent swarm of small earthquakes and some surface deformities caused by magma rising far under the surface its status has been changed to historically active, though any sort of actual eruption is not expected anytime soon.

florist shop

Along the seawalk there’s a lot to see. We saw a sign for a historic Russian bishop’s house across the street and thought it meant the fancy looking house directly across from the sign, but signs on the other side of the street indicated that house was actually a florist.

historic Bishop’s house

The actual historic bishop’s house next door to the florist was more of a big square box. Significantly larger and a whole lot plainer than the florist shop.

Saint Peter by the Sea

Not far from there we saw a small historic church called Saint Peter by the Sea. There used to be a little Lutheran church near where I grew up with the same name, but it’s called something different now. The one in Sitka is an old stone church that is quite attractive both inside and out. Churches are often some of the finest examples of historic architecture in many places.

Linda and a boat named Lady Linda

Walking past a marina we saw a boat close enough to shore to read the name painted on the side – Lady Linda. So of course Linda had to pose next to it. It’s not every day you find a boat with your name on it.

enjoying the view from the dock by the seawalk

We walked past a little playground and then found the entrance to a dock people could walk out on for a different water view.

dock next to the seawalk

A little river ran past it that I thought looked a lot like one that I’d seen going into a fish hatchery on an excursion called Birds, Bears, and Barnacles on a previous trip to Sitka. After we rounded the corner and saw the front of the building next to it, I realized it was the exact same place, they had just added a bit more structure to the creek so it looked like the fish could get closer into the hatchery on their own now than they could the last time I’d seen it. Or maybe it just looked that way viewing it from the other side.

a couple of the fish hatchery tanks at the Sitka Sound Science Center

It’s called the Sitka Sound Science Center. There’s a small fee to enter there, but it is something else people could visit on their own from the ship. It has an aquarium as well as the fish hatchery. The Alaska Raptor Center is not on the seawalk, but it is near to the Sitka Historical Park, which is the actual name of the park with the totem poles. The park is free, but the raptor center requires a fee to get in. It is one of the main tourist attractions in Sitka.

3 of the totem poles at Sitka Historical Park

At the totem park there’s a visitor’s center with a few displays and a short movie about Sitka history. A woodsy pathway leads to many different totem poles along the trail. One was just a plain log with a sign saying the pole belonging in that spot was out for repairs.

totem pole repair crew

We saw a couple maintenance guys working on one pole in the park. There was a sign somewhere that said they maintain them for as long as they can and replace them when they deteriorate too much to save them any longer. So from that it sounded like all of the totem poles in the park are reproductions of historic poles, but none are the actual originals.

beach in Sitka

There’s a beach within the totem park that people can walk down to. There’s also some beach access along the way by the seawalk.

Saint Michael’s church

Before going back to the shuttle we walked up to the old Russian church, but it had closed at 1pm and was locked down tight so nobody could go inside. It’s still picturesque from the outside though.

map on the seawalk

There are quite a few things people can walk to from the shuttle stop. One of the first things you come across on the seawalk is a map of things to see. Not everything in Sitka is within walking distance of the shuttle stop though. Fortress of the Bear is one of the area’s biggest attractions and it’s quite a ways out of town in the opposite direction from the port.

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Cruise Ship Cabins on Holland America Noordam

Posted on January 5, 2024 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Noordam in Moorea

Holland America Noordam has all the basic types of cruise ship cabins. These include inside cabins, ocean view cabins, balcony cabins, and suites. Of course there are some variations within each category. Often when booking those variations are only location within the ship, with cabins that are higher up and closer to the center generally deemed more desirable and therefore likely to have a higher price. Other variations include how many people a particular cabin holds which usually ranges from 2 to 4. Some cabins also have connecting doors between them, which is a plus if you book both cabins on either side of the connecting door, but less desirable if you have just booked one of those cabins as you are more likely to hear your neighbors through the connecting door than through a wall. The door will remain locked from both sides when the cabins are not booked together by the same party. The other major difference within any given category is accessible rooms, which are generally larger than other rooms of that category and have features like roll-in showers, some things that are usually high up lowered so they can be reached from a wheelchair, and wider doors than standard cabins so a wheelchair can fit through.

standard bathroom in Noordam ocean view and balcony cabins

One thing I did not like about the Noordam is that it is an old enough ship that it has central air that flows through multiple cabins and can’t be turned off. You can adjust it to more or less air to adjust the temperature in your cabin somewhat, but can’t change it from AC to heat and not being able to shut it off means it is noisy enough at night to keep you awake if you’re a light sleeper. Or maybe that’s just me. Most people are not bothered by it. That’s a standard thing on older ships. Newer ones are more likely to have individual heat controls in the cabin that you can change to hot or cold or turn them off.

large interior cabin

Inside cabins are the least expensive so they are good for budget cruisers, people who spend very little time in their cabin, and people who like darkness for sleeping when it is light outside. Some of these cabins are oriented with the short side to the hallway like most other cabins, but some are set long way toward the hall. Others are more squarely shaped depending on their location within the ship. With any cabin it will usually be quieter if you are away from elevators and on a deck that has other decks with just cabins and no public areas both above and below your cabin deck. Cabins of all varieties have closets and some other storage space as well as some sort of table and somewhere to sit besides the beds. Interior cabins range from 151-233 square feet. Larger ones are billed as large interior cabins, though the biggest of all in any category tend to be the accessible cabins.

ocean view cabin

Ocean view cabins come in both obstructed or not, with obstructed cabins being the least desirable and therefore less expensive. Some of those are fully obstructed by a tender boat, but others that are marked as obstructed will have a partial view so it’s a good idea to check where the cabin is located on the deck plan before booking because moving just one cabin over can mean the difference between looking directly into a tender or having a partial view between tenders. Cabins behind lifeboats rather than tenders may have some view above the lifeboat. Of course cabins with an unobstructed view are preferable. Cabins on the lowest deck are generally considered the least desirable by the cruise line and therefore less expensive than equal cabins on a higher deck, but if you like a close to the water view, convenience to the gangway at ports, or to head the opposite way of the crowd after shows or meals those rooms are actually a plus. They’re also beneficial if you don’t like the motion of the ocean because lower down as well as closer to the center will reduce the motion that you feel from the waves. Toward the back of the ship there may be engine noise so those aren’t the best for light sleepers. Toward the front you have the best chance of seeing flying fish, but you will definitely hear when they drop anchor, and when sailing in stormy seas it can sometimes sound as if the ship is running over logs in those cabins. On this ship everything other than inside cabins has a bathtub while the inside cabins just have a shower. This is not including accessible cabins which are more likely to have a roll-in shower than a tub. Ocean view cabins are about 174-180 square feet.

balcony cabin

Balcony cabins are a bit larger than ocean view and have the added bonus of a small private outdoor space. There’s a coulple chairs with footstools and a small table on the balcony. The size is pretty average for cruise ship balcony cabins, and it had lots of closet storage, but not much in the way of drawers. Or at least not drawers available for your stuff. Our cabin had a large drawer at the foot of each bed, but they were full of spare bedding and things for the steward. There’s a small refrigerator under the desk that came loaded with mini-bar items for sale, but the steward will clear that out upon request so you can use it for whatever you want. They will also fill the ice bucket in the room when they clean if you ask for that service. The walls are nicely magnetic and will hold clothes or other items on a magnetic hook. The tub not so much. Showers are often more magnetic than the cabin walls, but this one couldn’t hold a clothesline full of wet clothing on magnetic hooks. Good thing it had enough structure on both sides to tie the clothesline to instead. There is the one built-in clothesline you can pull across which may be sufficient if all you have to dry is a couple bathing suits, but more is needed for doing laundry in the cabin when on a long cruise as this ship has no self-serve passenger laundries. (You can send laundry out for the crew to wash, but that’s expensive.) Balcony cabins run about 213-359 square feet including the verandah.

signature suite

There are several types of suites on the Noordam. Their basic suite is the signature suite, which is roomier than a balcony cabin. Suites also come with perks not included in standard staterooms. Besides more space than a balcony cabin, with a signature suite you get a whirlpool bath instead of a regular bathtub, binoculars in the room, and a bigger balcony. These run about 372-384 square feet.

Neptune Suite

Their more premium suites are called Neptune suites. Besides being larger, they come with more perks. In addition to the extras in the signature suite, these have many more things including priority embarkation, free laundry service, in-room coffee machine, a better room service breakfast menu, breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill, premium amenities, priority tender, and a few other things. They also have use of the Neptune Lounge where suite guests can go for convenient breakfast or snacks. Including the balcony these are over over 500 square feet. You can tell where the suites are when you walk past them down the hall because the doors are wider than the ones on standard staterooms.

Pinnacle Suite

The biggest suites are the pinnacle suites, of which there are only two. They are huge with expansive balconies that include a private whirlpool. Like the Neptune suites, these also have use of the Neptune lounge and amenities not offered with lesser rooms. These rooms are 1290 square feet including the verandah.

accessible shower

roll-in accessible shower with fold-down seat

The ship also has some accessible staterooms. As previously mentioned, these are generally the largest rooms of their category and have extra-wide doors like the suites do. Fully accessible rooms include an extra-large bathroom with a roll-in shower.

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Lake Pleasant Cruise in Arizona

Posted on January 1, 2024 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Phoenix from Lake Pleasant Charters

While cruises are usually thought of as lasting at least several days, there are day cruises available that often just last a few hours or less. Arizona is more associated with dry desert than water or cruising, but you can take a lake cruise there. My husband John took one through Lake Pleasant Cruises on a boat named Phoenix, which he has written about here.

bird in flight

Pleasant Harbor Marina, Arizona

Arizona’s Lake Pleasant Cruises offers locals and tourists a chance to cruise this
freshwater oasis 43 miles from Phoenix Arizona. Lake Pleasant is a man-made
reservoir created by the Carl Pleasant Dam in 1927. The lake covers 10,000 acres
and has 116 miles of shoreline. The lake has several islands that are home to an
odd variety of animals including wild burrows, bald eagles, Blue Herron, Mule
Deer, and a variety of egrets and smaller birds. Lake Pleasant is a great area to bird
watch.

cactus

Lake Pleasant Cruises offers several cruise options including a sunset dinner cruise
that I enjoyed in mid-June. The ship caters to just 120 guests and cruises the vast
shorelines and islands in search of wildlife, scenery and statue-like cactus that
tower above the terrain like giant soldiers guarding the lake. They also offer
private cruises for weddings, parties or corporate events. Mainly though, they
cater to tourists who want to experience a short cruise on this scenic lake.

egret

During my cruise we relished a really tasty barbeque meal as the sun and
temperatures dropped while enjoying pristine views in all directions. On one
island the crew pointed out several nests of egrets. On another island snow white
egrets perched themselves on tree branches searching the water for a meal of
small fish. As the sun sank below the horizon a whole new palate of color bathed
the scenery with a new post card like view. I definitely recommend a sunset cruise
to experience the colorful transition of this area. The wildlife is also very active at
this time of day.

sunset

During our cruise we did not spot any wild burrows but did see them on the drive
to the marina. If you are planning your Lake Pleasant Cruise here’s a guideline for
wildlife.

Bald Eagles: January-June
Blue Herron: February-June
Mule Deer: October-January
Wild Burro: Year Round

​Dinner cruises cost $80 to $105 for adults and last 105 minutes. Standard cruises
cost $30 per adult for a 90-minute cruise. Also note, they are closed during July
and August and mid-December through mid-January. Seating is not assigned and
first come, first served, but don’t worry, every seat has a view. In addition to the
inside area, the boat also has a top deck that offers incredible panoramic views.
The Phoenix is wheelchair accessible and has two bathrooms. Boarding begins 30
minutes prior to departure times.

For more information or current prices please visit http://www.lakepleasantcruises.com
info@lakepleasantcruises.com
Pleasant Harbor Marina
8708 W Harbor Blvd, Peoria, AZ 85383
602-456-9955

Lake Pleasant, Arizona

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Hits and Misses on Celebrity Constellation

Posted on December 29, 2023 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Constellation in Aruba

As always, hits and misses are purely opinion and other people may feel differently.

Hits

We had a stateroom with an oversized balcony which at the time was priced as a regular balcony cabin. Starting in April of 2033 that cabin and the others like it changed to deluxe veranda cabins so we got a good deal on it.

oversized balcony

Between a covid outbreak and thousands of flights getting cancelled due to weather or no staff our January 2022 sailing was less than half full at just 700 passengers. Which is great when you are a passenger because nothing is ever crowded and you rarely ever have to wait for anything. It’s not so good for the cruise line as they didn’t make as much money as usual or for the crew who outnumbered the passengers so their total tip count would be way down, but this is about what works for me and that low passenger count definitely worked for the passengers. With such a high staff to passenger ratio, the crew were very attentive.

dinner in the dining room

Menus for the entire cruise were available in the app. Besides being able to decide what to order ahead of time, if you want to go to a specialty restaurant or eat dinner at the buffet it’s nice to know which night’s dining room menu you’d prefer to miss so you can make plans for that night – or if there’s a menu you really don’t like you can make alternative plans because of it.

solarium

The ship had a great adults-only solarium. Besides having a covered area with glass windows with a pool and hot tubs, the pool was similar to the sort often found in pay-extra thermal suites with jets and racks to sit on over the jets, only this one was free. The water in the pool and hot tubs wasn’t as warm as generally found in thermal suites, but people weren’t paying to be in that area either. The solarium even had a little café that served healthy breakfast and lunch options, of which some were free. In other things sometimes found in thermal suites, this ship had a free sauna in the locker room by the spa & gym.

archery in the reflections lounge

The Reflections Lounge was a great hang-out space with floor to ceiling windows, and they often had activities there. We went to archery and Deal or No Deal of which the archery was free, but the Deal or No Deal is their replacement for bingo so it had a price – and good prizes.

little nook by windows

The ship had quite a variety of seating areas near windows in public spaces so even people with inside cabins could find somewhere to sit and watch the sea go by.

After having been on some ships with pretty tiny showers it was nice to see a bigger one on the Constellation. A bigger shower means a longer clothesline which comes in handy when you have wet swimming suits that need somewhere to dry every day. Even handier on long cruises if you handwash laundry in the cabin.

cruising duck

We found our first duck on this cruise, tucked into the center of a round couch sort of thing that spiraled out from that point.

The cabin closet had more than the usual number of hangers found in cruise ship closets. It also had plenty of other storage space for two people, which was all that we had.

desserts at the buffet

Food on the ship was mostly good – at least mine was. John tended to get served overcooked proteins at dinner, but mine were always fine. The dining room service was quite speedy, which could have had something to do with the crew to guest ratio since they didn’t have nearly the full amount of meals to cook. It was quite nice to have quick service throughout most meals. The only slow one was when I asked if they had gluten free pancakes in the dining room one breakfast and nobody knew. It took them awhile to find out so we had to wait to order, but they did indeed have them.

pool deck

Plenty of space was always available in deck chairs, buffet tables, and theater seats. There were generally more empty spots than ones that were taken pretty much everywhere onboard. No crowds anywhere.

Caribbean Sunset in the Reflections Lounge

Some of the bars each had their own different specialty drinks so people who wanted to try different things could find something new. You could also order standard drinks at most of them.

No indoor smoking always makes a ship a more pleasant place to be.

gym

The ship had a nice gym.

La Petite Chef cooking steak on a plate

The petite chef show at Qsine was lots of fun. It’s as much about the experience as it is the food with the little chef show before each course, and the food there was delicious.

The ship was clean and well maintained. Boarding and disembarkation were quick and easy.

One good thing covid brought to cruising is having people individually watch safety videos on their phone or cabin TV and check into their muster station on their own instead of the old much-hated muster drill. Hopefully they continue with the new system and keep the old muster drills a thing of the past. It’s a lot quicker and easier and no getting stuck in a crowd.

The bathroom had separate shampoo, conditioner and body wash, and even had hand lotion provided. This used to be pretty much standard, but some of the ships have started going to that nasty all-in-one stuff which was horrible enough when it was just shampoo combined with conditioner, but some even have the body wash included as part of it now.

Misses

Although this cruise was during the peak of a covid outbreak some guests sat in the theater with chin diapers, noses hanging over their masks, or no mask at all even though they were required in all inside spaces. Also some of the stage acts called for audience participation and since yelling and loud singing in indoor spaces is a good way to spread covid that was a bad idea even if there weren’t that many people in the audience. Especially since everyone tended to cluster in the areas with the best stage view rather than spreading out around the entire theater.

the promenade deck doesn’t go all the way around the ship

The outside promenade deck doesn’t go all the way around the ship, which is always a miss to me. Promenade decks that go all the way around are great for walking or jogging around them, while the ones that are more like an oversized balcony aren’t that useful.

Constellation had no ship model ornaments in the gift shop. It had other sorts of models of the ship in the logo shop, but not the most useful one.

top deck track

The running track is just a painted line on the top deck. It only goes around a small space so it would take a lot of laps to amount to anything. It goes through and above smoking areas which is not where anyone exercising wants to be. Plus top deck tracks are always in the wind and weather as well as the main thoroughfare for people transiting that deck so never really a pleasant place to run. There was really nowhere to run on this ship. It did have a nice gym, but masks were required and it’s pretty tough to run on a treadmill while wearing a mask.

it helps to bring your own outlets and USB ports when the ship has 2 outlets and no USB ports

Being an older ship, there were only two outlets and no USB charging ports in the cabin. Luckily we come prepared. I have a plug that turns one outlet into 3 and a clock with 2 USB ports which gave us enough places to charge things.

No outlets in bathroom for shaving or hairdryers, and the hairdryer they had is the sort you have to hold a button down the whole time while using it.

What time is it?

All of the ship’s clocks were covered up with a sign or photo saying isn’t it time instead of displaying the actual time.

solarium hot tub

The hot tubs were more warm than hot and the pools cool.

The future cruise people could only book what was available online. Even when faced with massive cancellations and people unable to get there due to flight cancellations, they were unwilling or unable to make a deal to keep people who were already there onboard for the next sailing instead of letting one more cabin sit empty. Apparently having more people onboard to spend money on other things and provide the crew with more tips was not worth it to the cruise line to make anybody willing to stay on for the next cruise a good deal even though it would have been to their benefit to make something rather than nothing.

Cruise ship internet is known for being notoriously slow. Now that a lot of them including this one have all-inclusive packages that include internet there are more people online than ever making it so slow that it couldn’t even open an email account sign-in page, let alone an actual email. So pretty pointless having internet at all when it’s totally useless. Hopefully they update to Starlink if they haven’t already done so. The last cruise we took (on a different cruiseline) installed it the day we boarded and we had the fastest and most reliable internet we’ve ever had at sea even though that cruise crossed the Pacific Ocean. That was a huge change from previous ocean crossings when there was no internet service at all whenever the ship got too far away from land.

No self-serve guest laundry and ridiculously expensive laundry service.

Smoking areas in the center of the pool area and upper decks where there’d have been smoke everywhere had there been many smokers onboard. Luckily there were only a few.

dueling pianos

Microphones in the theater, especially the one at the center of the stage were set so loud that the music was often distorted. They had a trumpet show one night and the guy stood right by the center microphone. It was so loud it hurt people’s ears and pretty much all of the already small audience left during the first or second song. You could still hear it outside the theater even in areas far from it. The next time they had an outside performer it was a fiddle player and she made sure to stay away from that microphone. She either had more sense or saw what happened to the trumpet guy.

earworm stairway art

A lot of the artwork around the ship was weird, odd, or just plain bad. The photos in the hallways to passenger cabins were blurry shots of things people wouldn’t generally take photos of like telephone poles and street corners. The stairways each had a different sort of art. One had weeds, one had blobs, and the other had childish things. Odd statues seem to be a requirement in cruise ship art and this one had its share of those as well.

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