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Festival Cruises

MS Bolero

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Terry Offen
# previous cruises:5
Date of Trip: April 19, 2000
Itinerary: Transatlantic

A very comfortable affordable cruise with just enough excitement from rising seas in mid-Atlantic to give the illusion of daring; cabin staff were friendly and most were eager to please; dining staff was very attentive, professional; food was delicious, except for one mediocre breaded-chicken; cabins small, adequate. Our eastbound cruise had a "Tips already included" advantage. Entertainment was good though movie projector broke down. Thoroughly enjoyable. My favourite facet: I prefer the smaller passenger loads.

My favourite area was on open promenade deck. I would have preferred lounges and many many more chairs available in this section. Pool side was okay (sometimes entertaining). Those using the casino seemed happy. The non-smoking in the dining room and the Lounge was very very very appreciated.

Evening meals were best. Service was five star at our table. The dining room was my preference for most meals. My food allergies were noted and modifications were made cheerfully. Our Dinner Waiter and the Maitre'D were particularly attentive. A couple of lunches were lack lustre - no matter what choices were offered. The afternoon tea was quite substantial. The Midnight Buffet Extravaganza was spectacular!!!

One male and two female adults shared our outside cabin. We made use of the fourth bunk as additional storage space. There was a problem with the a/c for the first 28 hours but it was corrected when engineering accepted there really was a problem. One of the adults tipped the scales at 290 pounds and was able to shower without a problem. We had no problem with noise between cabins. Being an outside cabin, claustrophobia was NOT an issue.

All of the evening gala shows were attended -- sometimes (on slow nights) twice. All were entertaining -- evoking laughter, tears, etc. Musical talent was good. Ballroom training was entertaining even if you weren't participating. Cruise staff entertainment: Bingo, games, etc. added to the experience.

We departed from Santo Domingo stopping at St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados before six days at sea. Then, Tenerife, Malaga, Ibiza and Barcelona before leaving the ship at Genoa. We toured St. Thomas, went whale watching at Dominica and submerged in a mini-sub at Barbados. We walked around Tenerife, took an excursion into the mountains at Malaga, walked around Ibiza, toured Barcelona by bus. At sea we enjoyed Bingo, Party games, resting, reading, doing crafts, relaxing, dancing, listening to the entertainers. The pool was almost always in use as was the health club and the basketball court. Child care was not an issue for us.

Our fellow passengers were primarily Canadian, American and British who emigrated to North America. There were two parties of German speaking passengers (12 persons). Most of the passengers were down to earth. The only complaint I heard was from a couple used to travelling on ships carrying 1500-2000 passengers. They sneered at what they considered the lack of quality. About one third of the passengers were repeat passengers -- some on their 10th and 12th transatlantic cruises with the travel company. Some of them I would invite to dinner. Some have kept in touch.