May 3rd Galaxy TA -Reviews Anyone?

[shabal57]

Welcome back from the Galaxy TA. I will be leaving next week for the May 30th Galaxy cruise and am getting a little anxious.

 

Just wanted to know how the cruise and ship were? Were all the things that were supposed to be done during dry dock done? How was the food, entertainment, rooms, etc.?

 

Hope everyone had a good time and thanks for your responses in advance.

[ricka47]

Just got back today and will just post quickly for now. The ship was in good shape although the work of the dry dock was not overly obvious. I guess I was really expecting more. But, even with the dry dock it is clear that this is an aging ship.

 

We have been sailing Disney a good deal of late due to the nice discounts given to Florida residents and when we saw areas of the ship that didn't look as they should we said, "that wouldn't look that way on Disney." But, it was not a big deal.

 

The food was generally quite good to excellent and the entertainment was generally also good although to me this is still a weak area for X when compared with RCI. But, the show band was great and the party band (Intenz 6) was fantastic. The guiter player was incredible! They attempted to play some Santana music and did very well - that's not easy to do!

 

Our cabin was fine and was in good shape. There was a banging noise above the entry that was never fixed. But, after a few nights (and a few martinis), it didn't keep us awake.

 

The service was excellent everywhere on the ship and we had a great waiter team and the best table of dinner mates that we've ever had on a ship.

 

All-in-all we had a great trip and would have stayed on if they would have let us. But, it did make me think of another thread on here asking if X should be considered a premium line. I'd be interested what others think.

[STANCPA44]

The Galaxy still needs some more work, basically on the elevators and the drink dispensing machines. On many of the elevators, esp. the aft ones, the paint was worn off the numbers and floor names. It was difficult to read silver on silver. Also on many of the elevators the floor indicator was not working. This was a minor but annoying problem.

 

They do need to replace the drink dispensers. You never know what you will get. The drink, water, or syrup. It was Russian Roulette.

 

Other than that, the ship was in great shape.

 

My only other complaint is that the main dining room for breakfast and lunch was catered to early risers. The dining room food for breakfast and lunch was far superior to the buffet.

I had late seating for dinner and stayed up late, thus would have preferred a later time for both.

 

The above are minor annoyances, all cruise ships have their pluses and minuses. The PRO's far out weigh the Cons. The ship overall was very good, but somewhat sedate. The cruise was very enjoyable. In fact we were considering extending the cruise for another 11 days, but unfortunately it was sold out.

 

The service on the ship was great. My 91 year old father was on the ship and they helped us numerous times.

 

On embarkation they provided without our asking, a gold star treatment because he was wheelchair bound. When we arrived at the 3rd floor to embark, they took over. They wheeled him to the luggage center, put all our luggage into a handicap van, delivered us to the airport, when we arrived they took our luggage to airline reservation desk.

[babylene]

You will love Dottie, the cruise director. She's by far the best one we have ever had.

 

The food was OK. As usual, the meat was better than the fish. The presentation does not have the eye appeal of the Michel Roux days. (Was that his name?). Now you have to order your dessert at the start of the meal. No more "show time!) The Ice cream was my weakness!

 

We were lucky to have a great dining room team and also a very affable cabin steward. We were unlucky to have a cabin that had various noises and one morning we were awakened early by a leaking ceiling which soaked the foot of our bed. That was not vacation. Having the repairmen in our room at such an early hour was not so much fun.

 

I am sure you will have a lovely cruise. Whatever is not up to par (barring leaks and noises!) will not affect your enjoyment.

[nps001]

It's great to hear such positive feedback. One of my comments on my Galaxy cruise in April was that X was lucky to have Dottie. She was the most visible CD I have met.

 

During the CC gathering, it was great to hear of her background of the ships she has been on.

 

What was the comment about ordering dessert at the start of the meal? I know X no longer has the dessert tray displays, but we were able to order after finishing dinner.

 

There are a lot of conflicting posts regarding the dinner menu changes post Roux. I was told (Senior Officer) that the dinner menu had minor changes but that the buffets would change rather drastically (especially in their display) in time. I was also told that the major changes by E. Blau would be seen with the debut of the Solstice, and to not expect too much before then on the existing ships.

 

Has anyone else heard or experienced something different?

[uglypirate]

Good old ship, very clean. Dottie Cruise Director perfect! Entertainment. Production performances way above and beyond. So called named performers..........terrible a Frank S. wanna be.....a lame magic guy, and a "has been"from the lettermen who sang along with his videos. Dance band OK,guiter player was monotone and had the personality of lint. Food well the fish was below par, the meat out of sight. too many nights of no imagination of menu.come on turkey, and chicken just like home on a cruise....sure miss Michel guess the new guy Biau is a star in Vagas and his food taste like casino fare. Service from customer service room steward to dining room crew perfect. Hate to sound negative we had a great cruise I sound like Simon.......Celebrity this was not your best performance we are looking for a cruise line idol and you need to goto what you do best.out perform all the other lines........be creative in your food and entertainment forget the 30's and 40' even the 60's we'll be around on the next cruise to see if can really be what you say you are.

[jeanneful]

We always ordered our dessert after our meal. And the dessert tray display was right when you come into the dinning room. We were on the 6th level.

This was an awesome cruise. I do have to agree about the beverage dispensers, you never knew what you might get, but I thought it was kind of funny!!

[richsea]

......forget the 30's and 40' even the 60's .....

 

I would suggest that if you don't want that type of music, you should definitely stay away from Transatlantic cruises, as they tend to attract an older crowd. They had a 50s-60s trivia game & a 50-60s sock hop on this cruise that filled the Savoy Lounge to overflow.

 

Carnival might be more to your liking; they cater to a younger crowd.

 

Happy cruising!!

[uglypirate]

gosh Rich........June 25th I collect my first social security check.My wife and I are in our early 60's and have cruised extensively...... I agree a TA cruise attrachs an older crowd......but you are only as old as you think. I would love some Neil Diamond, John Denver, Kingston Trio, Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli, orhow about some comtempory Christian Music. Well art and music is up to everyones individual tastes.