Mexican Riviera
Written: Apr 06 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Wonderful Personal Staff
Cons: Bland Food, Snooty Englishman
The Bottom Line: If you have never been on a cruise, TRY IT! If you into great food, go somewhere else.
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| dvestal's Full Review: Sea Princess |
A week after returning from a 10-day cruise of the Mexican Riviera, I'm still on a vacation high. I had never been on a cruise before and really had no desire to be stuck out on a boat. After much convincing from friends that wanted to go, I gave in. They had found a great deal (about $125/day/person for a state with balcony) that my partner and I couldn't refuse.
First I would like to start by commending the wonderful staff we interacted with for 10 days.
Within minutes of boarding and finding our room, our cabin steward, Danillo, came and introduced himself. Danillo was very friendly and accommodating throughout the trip, he was always wearing a sweet smile and took care of our every need.
We went with traditional seating in the dining room, so we had the same wait staff every night, Jerry our waiter and Pedro his helper. After ordering a cocktail the first night, Jerry would remember what you had and get it for you the following nights. Again the same with coffee after dinner. Jerry was always accommodating to your requests and quick to repair any mistakes he made.
In the SteakHouse, we were served by Mehalia (I probably spelled that wrong). She was very happy and joking, making the evening very memorable.
All three people who worked in the Entre Nous bar, went far above and beyond our expectations in service. Vani, the bartender, Dexter, the waiter and Jaroslow and keyboard player all had their schedules changed to accommodate our group. We were first drawn into the Entre Nous bar with Jaroslows keyboard playing. We would joke and talk with him, one in our group would even sing with him. We discovered that the Entre Nous was also the ships caviar bar. We wanted to do a caviar lunch one day, but the bar is only open in the evenings. Dexter was able to arrange it so that he could come serve us caviar anyhow the next day! As the days progressed during the cruise and we met more people, we thought it would be nice to throw a little party for all the people we met. Originally we were going to do this in our stateroom(s), but we realized they would simply not be big enough. Since we had become regulars in the Entre Nous bar, we asked if we could have our party there, before dinner, when it wasn't so busy. Dexter and Zani were able to accommodate us and closed off a majority of the lounge for our party. Jaroslow normally only played the keyboard in the later evening, but was able to change his schedule to play at our party. We ordered cheese and canape` trays and Dexter and Zani were able to get a server for the snacks. As you can tell, we were very impressed by the service we received in the Entre Nous bar.
After explaining all the wonderful service we received, I need to mention the poor service. This came at the pursers desk and the gift shop and each time the snotty, snooty attitude came from an Englishman. The two most distinct incidents were, once at the pursers desk, when they didn't want to give us quarters for their laundromat because they were almost out and in the gift shop trying to get a refund on a watch battery for a watch they sold us. The quarter incident was frustrating because we were trying to do laundry. Their change machine was out of quarters, so we went to the pursers desk. Now the silly part is when you realize, we are in Mexico, people aren't spending quarters off the ship, whatever quarters the pursers desk had, are now the laundry and video arcade, if they would just send someone to empty these, put the money back in the change machines and to the pursers desk, there would be no problem. But the Englishman had to get snotty about it and kept saying he only had a limited number of quarters left. I also would like to know why it was so important had kept a few. Was he saving the quarters for someone more important than me? It made no sense, but after raising my voice and on the verge of creating a scene, he was able to sell me $6 in quarters. In the gift shop, the Englishman didn't want to take the time out of his busy schedule to give me a $4 refund on a watch battery. We had bought watches during an on board watch sale and one of them immediately stopped after purchase. In the gift shop, were were told to buy a watch battery on shore and they would refund the money spent. We did that, they when we cam back with the receipt, the man working that evening tried everything he could to not give us the refund.
That was the good and the bad of the crew we met on board, overall, more good than bad.
We had always heard how great the food was on a cruise, we were quite unimpressed. It was always presented wonderfully with great flair, but when you started eating it, the flavor just wasn't there. There wasn't anything wrong with it, the food was just bland. The one exception was the Steakhouse, the steaks were fantastic.
The overall cruise was good and I would do it again. I would like to try another cruise line, to see how the food compares. Maybe in a few years!
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
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Epinions.com ID:
dvestal
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Member: David Vestal
Location: Dalton Gardens, Idaho
Reviews written: 32
Trusted by: 6 members
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