On Wednesday I had lunch aboard this cruise ship for a little over $40 (with $7 coupon that basically negated the tax and port fee). They served some cheese, crudite and sweet rolls as appetizers (all you can stomach). We then had some time on deck. Then there was a typical salad with some sort of Italian vinagrette and rolls. The main course was cornflake and panko dusted Celery City Tilapia with roasted potatos and a medley of vegetables (yellow carrots again - is it a conspiracy?). All in all it was better than I expected (I'm rating it as a 20 dollar cruise with a 20 dollar meal). The fish was large and well cooked. Unfortunately, it was covered with too much of an unecessary mayonaise based sauce. The potatos were a little over buttered. The vegetable were ok for unsteamed. The served a brownie for dessert. The service was good. Although, I still don't know why they call everyone down from the upper decks if they're going to make you wait as they serve stewardess style. I hope they have more than two servers on the other cruises (we only had about a half full tour). Ice tea, coffee, or water are complementary. They have alcohol, beer and soda for a charge. You are offered a chicken or beef or vegetable or fish or pork entree. The two specials were fish and beef on the day I sailed.
The boat is a little seasoned. It has gold trim, red pleather booths, fake Tiffany lamps and a plentitude of mirrors. I would guess it seats 100. It's air conditioned and mostly enclosed. It was bigger and more enclosed than I thought (so don't worry about sailing in the heat or rain). The silverware and glasses were a little worn . The table mats and napkins were paper. Ask for the right side of the boat. It had the better view.
All in all this was a fun experience. I did the shortest tour (3 hours). You had to be at the dock by 10:30. We left at 11 and returned at 2. It's a cheap getaway and the food will be better than expected. It's not the Queen Mary but I think it's exactly what their demographic clamors for . It was mostly an older crowd and their young relations who boarded with me. Most were celebrating some kind of anniversary or birthday. They had an MC who furnished some good info (who new the St John's is black because of tannins from Cypress trees). We probably could have done without his karoake on the ride back. We saw alligators, snakes, manatees, birds and other flora and fauna on our ride. It may not live up to the expectations of some snobs, but, I found it a decent value and I ask the snobs of Central Florida to slum it for an afternoon or evening and I think they will be secretively satisfied. Where else can you get this experience locally? Unique(ness) is hard too find.
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