My company's dinner cruise was on 3/6/10 on the Cornucopia Princess (out of Hoboken). The deal we had was to be able to self-park for FREE on a ""reserved"" parking level at Little Man Parking on 12th St. I arrived approx 5:40pm (cruise boarding time was between 6 and 7pm) and there were hardly any parking spaces left. My unfortunate co-workers had to get valet parked and then get their receipts validated on the ship. Luckily I found a parking space but then I could not easily locate the elevator (reserved parking area was on Level 4). The weather was good so the walk to the ship was bearable although the cement pier's condition is not the best. Boarding the gangplank onto the ship was a bit on the ""dangerous"" side -- there was a medium upward incline to the ramp which ended in a HUGE step DOWN onto the ship's floor. Anyone who is ""vertically challenged"" or elderly will have major issues here. If there was rain, I could see slipping being an issue too. Luckily for me, I'm tall, so the step down was no problem but it felt uncomfortable. My first stop was the ladies room. It was of ample size (very large, in fact) but 1 paper towel dispenser was jammed and the other one was empty. I informed the nearest crew member (who was male) and he was nice enough to stop what he was doing to track down the maitre d. I then told the maitre d and he thanked me. Later in the evening I used the ladies room on the 3rd floor (Sun Deck). There was no soap in any of the dispensers and a good amt of water on the floor under one of the sinks!! I don't know where the maitre d was hiding out, but I didn't see him for the rest of the evening. Cocktail hour was during the 1st hour on the ship. It was on the 3rd level (Sun Deck). We were told the elevator was broken so we all had to walk up 3 flights of stairs. A real workout! There was a lot of floor space so crowding wasn't an issue, but there weren't enough tables and chairs so holding your little plate and your beverage and eating the hors d'oevres was a bit of a challenge. Dinner service was good. Servers were very energetic and attentive. Food (surf & turf) was okay, but I did hear from my co-workers that degree of cooking varied tremendously. I didn't have a problem with my food, but some others were not so lucky. Seating was scattered between levels 1 and 2. We had alot of no-shows so I thought this spread the group out too much. The on deck views were pretty awesome, but no announcements were made to let us know when we were passing significant landmarks. When you're at your dinner table, it almost feels like there are no windows in the room (although there are, but the tables are not close to them). Returning back to the pier was a BIG STEP UP and then a slow walk down the metal gangplank. Those who had to valet park had a big wait for their cars. Fortunately I was able to get my car pretty quickly, so I was on my way in only a few minutes.
Pros: Servers were attentive, Dessert was good
Cons: DISGUSTING bathrooms, Broken elevator, Decor needs updating
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