Matt & Mary's Great Adenture Review

[maryjaden]

The shows have all been very good. They generally last about an hour.

 

St. Lucia is gorgeous. There were 6 of us that did Cosol Tours. The regular price, I believe, is $75 per person. There are 12 people in a van. We did the private tour for $95 per person. I think this is well worth the extra. We started on 8:30 and ended at 3:45. A great tour of the island, lots of food, beverages, a beach, mud bath and waterfall.

 

I will post more in the morning.

 

A note about Cosol Tours, Bumpy (our guide) made frequent stops to look around and take photos. There were six of us on the tour. At one of the stops we had several platters of local food that we could try. It was all very good. Later in the day we stopped and had fresh hot bread which was shaped like a turkey drumstick. It was sliced in half, the you put cheese in it and it melts. This is a popular lunch item.

 

We also had a short boat ride to view the Pitons and spent an hour at a beach.

 

I would definitely recommend this tour. However if you are prone to car sickness, take note, the roads are very curvy and criss cross through the hills back and forth and up and down. There are gorgeous views and a lot of commentary from the guide about the area, history and the island.

[maryjaden]

St Maarten, the last day....

We again did room service. It arrived in the scheduled time and was good. The shipped docked at 9:00 am. Today we had a scheduled tour with Bernards. It started at 10:30. We had a very good driver/guide named David.

 

The tour covered both the Dutch and French side of the island. David kept up very good commentary about the island. There were several stops for viewing and photos. We stopped on the French side for some shopping and lunch. One of the many pastry shops is where we ate. It was delicious.

 

After lunch we went to Maho beach to watch the planes come in and take off. We saw several and it was neat to see. This is a very crowded beach, not for a leisurely day at the beach. But a great place for an hour or so to watch the planes and grab a cool drink. You can also order food at the Sunset Grill. We sat right at the railing of the bar to watch the planes come in.

 

We finished the tour and were back to the Ship by 3:00 pm. I would also recommend Bernards Tours.

 

A note about the tours in general. I used to only book tours through the Ship as I was very concerned about timing and missing the Ship. As I cruised more, I became more adventurous. I would search for tours on trip advisor and thoroughly check reviews. Most land ship tours I have found are either by 12 person vans or busses that they fill to capacity. If you have a group, you can book a private, custom tour with less people for about the same price as a ship tour. You can also spend a little more time at a location if you want to or skip something entirely. I let the company know what we really want to see and they also make recommendations in case we miss something. Also, there have been a few tours I made through the ship that had been cancelled the day before. By this time, any other of the good ship tours are sold out. Be aware, there are some tours that you can only book through the ship as the cruise lines have contracts with them.

 

After dinner we went back to our cabin to do the dreaded chore of packing to have our luggage outside the door by 11 pm. We went to the adult comedy show that evening. It was very good, however definitely not for those younger. The did have a family comedy earlier in the week that was also very good but family friendly.

 

The seas were rougher tonight and we could feel the motion of the Ship more. Prior to this it was really not noticeable.

[maryjaden]

Disembarkation Day

I scheduled a ship tour of Old and New San Juan primarily because it included transfer to the airport and we hadn't seen the forts yet. We weren't scheduled to fly out until 3:55 so I thought this would be better than sitting at the airport all day. The actual tour was scheduled to last from 9 am to 1:30.

 

We were instructed to meet in the imperial lounge at 7:30. We did not leave the lounge until 9:00 am (we were supposed to leave at 8:15) due to customs being late in clearing the Ship. You go to the terminal and collect your luggage. Our numbers were 4. We went to the area marked 4.....no luggage. Ok, we checked the Suite area, just in case....not there. Went to the area for unmarked (in case tags come off), not there either. Now I am getting a bit concerned so we flag down a RCL rep and she said to check in the areas the end in 4 (14,24,etc), still no luggage. She helped us just start at 1 and check them all. Alas, we found both pieces in area 12, both pieces with the 4 tag still on them and easily visible.....go figure. Once in line for customs, it all went fairly quickly.

 

By the time we were loaded into the busses and left it was 10:00 am. They load your luggage in another van and you pick it up at the airport. You do a tour of the city, but have very little time at the sites. Our driver almost left a couple at one of the stops and kept mixing up his left and right. There was also something going on in the downtown area of Old San Juan so we had to skip most of that.

We arrived at the airport at 12:30. So the actual tour according to the shore excursions lady was to be from 9 am (on the bus) to 1:30 (off the bus at airport). It ended up being 10 am - 12:30. I probably wouldn't do this tour again, I would just catch a cab which were plentiful.

 

Picked up our luggage and went to the USDA inspection area. Thanks to CC, I knew we had to do this. It all went pretty quickly. Checked in and went to wait for the plane.

 

A few random thoughts about the cruise.

 

I had a gentleman I was speaking to from New Jersey comment he probably wouldn't do this tour again because there were a lot a people from Puerto Rico on the ship so all announcements, show introductions, muster drill, etc were in English and Spanish. My thought (which I kept to myself) was....jeesh, what did you expect, after all the Ship sails from Puerto Rico....lol

 

Beautiful islands. I would definitely take the cruise again, but would enjoy the 7 day sailing even more. This one was only 5 days as the Ship was coming out of dry dock.

 

The staff on the ship were very friendly, helpful and always had a smile.

 

The other cruisers were very friendly. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. One thing I did notice was the Puerto Ricans seemed to like to stay up later, so it was very quiet on the ship in the early morning.

 

Even though refurb was still going on, we didn't hear a lot of noise or experience any real disruptions.

 

My personal preference for cruising is if we are travelling without children, I like the smaller ships. In my limited experience, the Voyager and Freedom Class are my favorite so far. Much more personal interaction with staff and other guests.

 

Overall we had a great time again. Next up for us is our family cruise in August of 2017 on the Harmony. My parents, 5 siblings, their children, grandchildren, my mother's brother and family. All in all, about 35 people. That will be an entirely different experience...lol!

 

I hope you enjoyed this. I will continue to answer questions if anyone has any.

[njkruzer]

Thank you for your review. We sail on her on 1/21/17 for a b2b. We sailed on her 2x before but not since 2004.

[maryjaden]

I really enjoyed the Ship. I think once all the updates are done it will be even better.

[adpiterp]

Thanks for your review! We will be sailing 5/6 :)

 

 

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[BillOh]

Thanks for your review! We will be sailing 5/6 :)

 

 

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Assuming we bring the ship back. :D

[hipster1]

Mary,

Thank you for your review!! We sail on Christmas Eve. I am so glad you enjoyed Cosol and Bernard Tours! We have used both of them in the past and always recommend!!

 

Good to hear the ship looks good! We were on her this past February, and she was still in pretty good condition.

 

Ali