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Note - this page contains multiple reviews.
Name: Maurica Spann
Email: Maurica_Spann@em.fcnbd.com
Age: 23
Occupation: Executive Assistant
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Sovereign
SailingDate: 12/14 - 12/18
Itinerary: Nassau, Cococay, Key West
FoodDiningRoom:
CruiseDirector: 45
CabinComfort: 50
FoodRoomService: 50
CruiseStaff: 50
CabinAmenities: 50
FoodLidoDeck: 55
DiningRoomService:
CabinQuietness: 70
FoodMidnightBuffets: 50
CabinSteward: 75
ShoreExcVariety: 70
FoodVariety: 60
DeckService: 50
ShoreExcValue:
GoodForHoneymoon: 45
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 50
TenderService:
GoodForSeniors: 85
BeautySalonStaff: 65
EntertainmentLounges: 65
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 70
OverallPortsofCall: 70
BeautySalon: 65
EntertainmentPoolside: 65
CruiseActivities: 55
Casino:
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 50
EmbarkDisembark: 45
DiscoNightclubs: 60
DeckSpace: 70
Stabilization: 0
ShopsOnBoard: 60
SpaceRatio: 45
OverallCruiseValue: 45
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 28 Dec 1998
Time: 10:56:07
Remote Name: 147.113.146.7
Remote User:
Comments
This was the first cruise my husband and I had been on, and by reading excerpts from this
site, I kind of had an idea of what to
expect. My overall impression of the cruise was bad but there were a few good points, so
here goes.
Embarkation: This was a big mess. We arrived by cab at about 12 noon. After we got our
luggage out of the cab, we headed for
the entrance to the building to check –in, all of sudden we hear this man yelling
‘Hey you!, Hey you!’. We turn around and yes
he’s referring to us. Once we reach him we find that he can transport our luggage to
the ship. Ok, fine. But then after just putting
our 2 bags on this cart (other persons bags were already on the cart) he outright asks for
a tip! I was very surprised that he would
be so bold. Needless to say we didn’t give him one! But my husband said that we would
have given him a tip until he asked for it.
Well we finally got into the building and stood in an extremely long line. I guess I
should have expected it. The building for check
– in got so crowded that they had to close the entrance door so no one else could
come in until the line went down. The lady
who checked us in said that they had a Coast Guard Drill, which threw everything off.
Anyway, we didn’t get on the ship until
1:30pm. A word to the wise FILL OUT YOUR CRUISE DOCUMENTS BEFORE YOU GET THERE! There were
so many people
who hadn’t filled out their cruise documents and were doing so while in line. At
first this was really holding the line up, but later
the RCCL personnel started pulling those persons out of line and letting those who were
ready go ahead. After checking in we
got in another long line to board the ship. Up an escalator, through a doorway, and onto a
walkway that leads you to the ship.
When we got on the ship, all you could hear was ‘Bahama Mamas and Pina Coladas
anyone.’ They weren’t as pushy as I had
read, but they did become irritating. Finding our cabin and activating our supercharge
card were very easy.
Cabin Comfort/Amenities/Quietness: The cabin was so tiny, but after we unpacked and
decided to leave our beds apart, we had
a little space to move around, and I mean a little space! I was not impressed at all by
the cabin. There were spots on the wall,
the furniture was chipped in various places and looked worn. The beds were uncomfortable
(cheap) and I couldn’t get a good rest.
The television was a joke. Basically the reception was terrible, especially on the
stations that were supposed to be showing
movies. The only stations that were clear were the ones showing (selling) shore excursions
or showing the itinerary for the day.
The remote control only turned the TV on and off (none of the channel or volume buttons
worked), the TV itself was ancient – the
channel display was almost faded so that you could only see half of the channel number.
What really upset me was that many
times the channels that were supposed to be showing movies, turned into channels selling
shore excursion, so really there was
nothing on TV. The bathroom was very small but OK! No bathtub, just a little corner for a
shower. Be careful when you’re in the
shower – it’s not closed in, so if you run too much water it will leak over into
the toilet/sink area. And about the toilet, it was so
weird! After you do your business, you have to get up, close the lid and pull this button
to flush. After it flushes you understand
why you should close the lid! It makes this incredibly loud sucking noise, it sounds like
the toilet is exploding. After the first day
we got used to this. And just to let you know, the water in the toilet is ALWAYS yellow
– believe me, I tried flushing to get some
clear water – it never happened. The cabin was sort of quiet, what I mean is that we
couldn’t hear what the people in the next
cabin were saying, but if they were adjusting the bed or moving something you could hear
it. And you could hear everything that
went on outside your door, including conversations, doors closing, etc. Cabin Steward: Our
cabin steward was fair, not bad but
OK. Our cabin was always tidy when we came back after being out for a while. But we never
got anything special like funny
shaped towels on the bed, basically he just did his job and stayed out of our way. On the
night before debarkation, (tip night) he
did put the little mints on our pillows and made up the beds, that was nice, but I felt a
little cheated because we didn’t get that
kind of service on the other nights.
Overall Ports of Call: The ports of call we visited were Nassau and Key West, we
didn’t make it to Cococay, because of high
winds, so we had an at sea day. My impression of Nassau was that it was poor and dirty,
and the men there acted like they had
never seen a woman before in their life. They were very disrespectful to my husband (who
is not a small man) by staring at me,
and whistling and even breaking into song when we walked by. Also, the shops that RCCL
recommends for shopping to get
discounts and the best souvenirs are not the best shops. For example, RCCL recommends
Caribbean Collectibles and the
T-shirt factory in Nassau. They say that you can get good quality souvenirs for very cheap
and even get t-shirts 3 for $10. Well
when we went to these stores, we didn’t see any good quality t-shirts 3 for $10, the
shirts that were for this price were irregular,
raggedy, odd colored and most didn’t even look like t-shirts, they looked like
cover-ups or smocks. The nice t-shirts were priced
from $14 a piece on up. And the nice souvenirs were very high too. The ones that were on
sale LOOKED like they were on sale.
So my husband and I just wandered further down the street and found these other stores
that actually had some really nice
t-shirts that were 3 for $10 and had some good quality souvenirs. I believe these stores
were on Bay Street. The highlight of the
trip to Nassau was the Atlantis Resort at Paradise Island, it was beautiful, even though
they are still doing construction. The
resort is huge, and we got a lot of pretty pictures. Access into the hotel and sightseeing
around the grounds is free. They have a
lot of different tourists sections within the resort, like underwater observation areas
where you can actually see a variety of fish in
their natural habitat, there was also a guide down there that explained what some of the
fish are and at what angle to hold your
camera to get good pictures. There also were a lot of water slides that were free of
charge and there were a couple of very large
pools that you could swim in that were also free, but remember to bring your own towel, I
believe they only give towels to guests
of the resort. The next port of call was Key West. It was OK, mainly a party town, it had
a lot of bars and shops, but we did find
two places to go to that turned out to be worthwhile: Ripley’s Believe It or Not
museum, which was a lot of fun, and The Sea
Aquarium. The Aquarium was fun and very interesting. The tour guide was very nice and you
could tell he liked his job, I think his
name was Tom. He went into detail to explain what the different fish and animals were,
what to touch, and what not to touch. He
even took a white shark out of the water and let us touch his skin, that turned out to be
a great picture. We saw two huge sea
turtles, some white and spotted stingrays, a pelican, some horseshoe crabs and a whole lot
of other animals. I recommend that
you go here, it gives you a lot of knowledge about fish and sea animals, it may look small
from the outside, but there is a lot to
see.
Shore Exc. Variety & Value: There were definitely a lot of shore excursions to choose
from, but they were also priced very high.
It was much cheaper for my husband & I to sightsee by ourselves. For example, RCCL
charges on average about $25 per person
for a tour of Nassau (which doesn’t include Paradise Island). We were able to get
to/from Paradise Island for just $20 in total.
And we were at our leisure, not on a schedule. I think the only shore excursion that does
include Paradise Island was a visit to
the Atlantis Resort to see a show and visit the casino, if I remember correctly, it was
expensive, and again you are on a
schedule. I suggest that you just do your own thing once you get to the ports of call.
It’s really not difficult, once you get into
Nassau there are cabs waiting to take you where you want to go, and it isn’t
expensive. And when you get to Key West, a trolley
takes you into the downtown area, where everything is, and you can walk everywhere you
want to go. There are maps all over the
place once you get to town and these maps are much better than the ones given on the ship.
Cruise Activities/Lounge Service: This was a big let down. Let me explain. Since we did
not get a chance to visit Cococay, we
had an at sea day. If you didn’t want to go to the casino or play bingo, there was
literally nothing to do. They practically threw
some activities together, which were boring. It seemed as if they had never had an
unexpected sea day, which I know to be false
by reading this site. I was very disappointed in this aspect of the cruise. On this day,
there was nothing interesting to do until
after 6:00pm, which was the time we would have been coming back from Cococay. My husband
and I resorted to going back to
our cabin and playing cards and finally falling asleep. Another thing that really
irritated me was this. The captain so-called made
up for not visiting Cococay by having 1 hour of free drinks, which were stipulated to
Bloody Marys and Screwdrivers. First of all
the drinks were totally watered down, I mean the Bloody Marys tasted like fruit punch and
water, and the Screwdrivers tasted like
orange juice and water. If you’re going to try to make up for not visiting a port of
call, the least you could do is give REAL drinks
and then let us choose which drink we want. Also, during this 1 hour the waiters showed a
very lackadaisical attitude about
serving drinks. They were supposed to be going around delivering the drinks, but you
actually had to go up to them if you wanted
a drink, but when the drinks aren’t free, you can’t stop the waiters from coming
to your table wanting to serve you. How
hypocritical! Anyway, on the other nights of the cruise the activities were pretty good.
The Not-So- Newlywed Game was funny,
as was the Scavenger Hunt Game.
Cruise Director/ Cruise Staff: The Cruise Director was so phony (her name was Louanne
Walters.) The only time we saw her (in
person) was when she was introducing a show or hosting a game. She really didn’t seem
genuine, just a I’m doing this cause I
have to attitude accompanied with a phony smile. We only saw the rest of the main cruise
staff at the Captain’s Cocktail Party
and then only from afar. We never saw them walking around or anything. I mean the cruise
director only hung out once when she
hosted a game and then it was only to get a spot on videotape, after that was done, she
left. I saw the captain a couple of times,
once at the captain’s cocktail party and again eating breakfast with a couple. He
might have been a nice person, I couldn’t tell.
But he sure could talk, I mean ramble on and on. I believe during the cruise, he made
about 8 announcements, each about 7 to
10 minutes long. And no one could understand what he was saying, partially because of his
heavy accent, but mostly because
he was just babbling, after the first two days, we just tuned him out.
Disco/Nightclubs: Sometimes it was crowded, sometimes it was totally empty. It depended on
if there was an activity right before
the actual nightclub portion started. ( I really think this was due to the age of most of
the persons on the ship.) I believe the DJ
was fair in the selection he played, not totally catering to one group of people. But my
husband thought his selections were
crappy (my husband is a part-time DJ.) The DJ had a very high plastic wall around him, so
I doubt he was taking any requests, or
could take any requests.
Entertainment- Lounges: The entertainment in the lounge was weak. The band’s name was
Another Level. The two lead singers
could not carry a note, they messed up some of my favorite songs to the point that one
night I just got up and left, yes they
sounded that bad! The keyboard player, drummer and base players were pretty OK.
Entertainment – Show Lounge: The performers in the show lounge ranged from OK to very
good. The Paramount Singers and
Dancers were cheap entertainment. Their outfits looked cheap and they also could not sing
a lick. Their dance routines were
good but became repetitive and not so great by the end of the cruise. The comedian Billy
Fellows was OK he was kind of funny.
But the comedian/juggler Jeff Taveggia was hilarious. He put on a great show. He juggled
everything – from very sharp knives to
fruit. In one act he balanced a ball on his nose while juggling seven rings and then
ending by having all the rings fall around his
neck! Very impressive.
Entertainment – Poolside: Most of the poolside entertainment was not worth going to,
however there was one little show where
the waiters were featured balancing trays with drinks on them on their heads going through
a limbo line! That was interesting to
watch.
Shops on Board: The shops were fine. The liquor on board was priced less than normal, but
shopping in the apparel stores was
highway robbery, they were asking $43 for a simple straw sun hat and the souvenirs and t-
shirts were also very expensive. They
did have little knickknacks that you could forget, like Q-tips, deodorant, toothpaste and
such.
Beauty Salon Staff: They were pleasant, but still phony. I got my nails done on the first
night of the cruise, and by the third day
all my nail polish was basically gone. By the way a simple manicure is $20, I thought it
was a waste especially when my nail
polish was coming off so soon. They must use cheap products (I went to school for nails)
because when nails are done right, the
polish doesn’t come off that quickly! I know I should have done my own nails!!
Deck Space/ Space Ratio: There was enough space on Deck 11 to have your own place outside.
But on the inside it was very
crowded. I think this was totally due to the lack of working elevators. There were a total
of six elevators and it seemed only 2
were working, so either you wait or you take the stairs. Many people decided to wait so
the lobbies were always crowded.
Another thing about the elevators, (the ones that were working), had a mind of their own,
they always seemed to pass your floor,
and either go all the way up or go all the way down which made the wait even longer. And
when it finally reached your floor it was
jam packed, so you had to wait for yet another elevator to decide to stop on your floor.
Good for Honeymoon/ Seniors: I don’t think this cruise is good for honeymooners,
young or first time cruisers, we were first time
cruisers (and we’re young)and it wasn’t really good for us. Everything was
geared toward seniors, EVERYTHING, from a
GrandMa get together, to a ‘50s sockhop. Over ¾ of the guests on this ship were
seniors. I felt like I was in a nursing home, we
only saw a couple of handfuls of couples that were around our ages.
Stabilization/Ship Cleanliness: This ship was not smooth at all. Most of the time it was
rocking, and I mean rocking hard. The
ship was rocking so hard one night that my husband rolled right out of the bed from the
jerk!! I felt a little sick during the time I
was on the ship. And even after I got off the ship my head was still swimming, I guess I
had cruise lag, so did my husband. The
ship was not clean. I actually saw with my own eyes a waiter put a large pile of used
boxes of cards in the hallway by an
elevator. I also saw that someone had set their room service plates and tray by another
elevator, and it was still sitting there
about 2 hours later! There were big spots in the carpet and on the stairs throughout the
ship. The brass was not polished, it
looked dull, if it was real. Another thing I saw was dried glue coming down one of the
windows in the Music Man Lounge. It
looked as though it may have been really hot one day and the decoration they had glued at
the top started to melt down the
middle of the window. I saw this when I was looking out of the window at the ocean and
then I looked up. It looked really bad, and
it looked like someone noticed it and pulled down the curtain just so, so that nobody
would see it. They were putting down carpet
in the Finian’s Rainbow Lounge for most of the cruise, and the smell of glue was very
strong. They were also putting up
decoration on the walls in the hallway on my deck (deck 3).The furniture in the Follies
Lounge was dirty, and the glass tables
were always smudged. The chairs in the WindJammer Café were dirty at the bottom like
someone had their shoes all over the
back bottom of the chairs. The cinemas had a terrible smell in them, I can’t describe
it but it was bad.
Food: We didn’t go to the dining rooms to eat any of our main course meals, but we
found out that the entrees being served in
the main dining rooms were exactly the same as the WindJammer Café. The only difference
is that in the WindJammer you self
– serve your appetizers, salad and desserts, and in the dining rooms the entire meal
is served to you. We liked the WindJammer
for 2 reasons: 1 because we could sit where we wanted to, and 2 the service was so fast.
Our food was ready before we had
finished eating our salads. And the waiters and waitresses in the WindJammer were very
pleasant, the really acted like they
wanted to serve us and they didn’t hassle us for tips! The food in the WindJammer was
good, everything was cooked well done
and the food was hot when we received it. A plus was that my husband could get the
hamburger or hotdog that he wanted. The
only thing I wouldn’t recommend is the soup. It was disgusting, I had some Brussels
sprout soup and there weren’t any sprouts
in it, it looked like thick yellow water and tasted like thick yellow water, and after one
spoonful my stomach started to hurt. The
desserts were a big let down. I only ate 2 slices of pie the entire cruise. I tried to eat
some cheesecake, or what I thought was
cheesecake, it was marbled together and tasted horrible.
Buffets/ Welcome Buffets: From terrible to OK. There was not a big variety of foods and
all of the buffets each night consisted of
most of the same things, which were cold cuts, cheese, whole fruit, and leftovers from
lunch. The welcome buffet was the worst
of all. The baked chicken and roast beef were cold and greasy. The beans were hard and
stuck together and the lettuce for the
salad was brown. The miniature desserts looked like they had been sitting out for a long
time. The lunch buffet was a joke, they
called them ‘afternoon snacks’, well they got that right! There were hard cut-up
submarine sandwiches with a block of cheese
between them, some nasty looking peach cobbler, hard cookies, some fruit that was not
sweet, water, coffee (not good no
matter how much cream and sugar), and lemonade – this is about the only thing that I
can honestly say was delicious and
sweet. One day they had ice cream but ran out after about 15minutes. Another thing was
that they frequently closed down the
lunch buffet about an half hour after they opened, I don’t think this was fair to
persons who may have just made it or were coming
off shore excursions. The best lunch buffet was the one on the last full day of the
cruise. There was actually enough ice cream to
go around and there was some rather tasty food ( the tuna fish was good). One thing I
didn’t like about the midnight buffets that
has nothing to do about the food was when they were held in the dining rooms, the waiters
directed you to a seat. They stuffed
everyone in there together, and you had no choice of where to sit.
Room Service: The food was bad. You could only order cheese pizza, a hotdog, a salad, a
dry sandwich, and a couple of other
non-edible items. The cheese on the pizza was like plastic, and the crust was like a
sponge. My husband tried the roastbeef
sandwich and it was very dry, and they gave him the cheese in a little packet, it was
spreadon cheese which I thought was
extremely cheap!! The persons on the line to take your room service orders had an attitude
problem. They didn’t want to take
your order, and they took all day getting it to you.
Debarkation: This was also a big mess. Even though you are called by your color (our color
was gray), I think there were too
many people in the hallway trying to debark. People were coming from everywhere. There was
no organization as to persons
leaving the ship. It seemed like the crew of the ship were just trying to push us off the
ship, like cattle or something. Once, we
got off the ship, we had to find our bags, this was so confusing, bags were everywhere.
But we had put little red pieces of
material on our bags so we could easily distinguish them, that really didn’t help
because many people did the same thing, but we
did finally find our bags. I suggest that you put a flowing piece of material with an odd
color on your bags. When we got outside,
it was people everywhere, everyone was trying to catch a cab. Anyway, we finally got a cab
and were off to the airport.
Overall Cruise Value: I don’t think this cruise was worth the money I paid for it.
There were a lot of let downs. The Sovereign is
very old and is in need of repairs. I also didn’t like the fact that they throw the
tipping in your face. Everywhere you look there is
something about tipping. I would like to go on a cruise where tipping is included in the
price. I will not go on this ship again, but I
may go on another RCCL ship, one that is newer, I also hear that Carnival Cruises are a
lot of fun. I’ll let you know. If you want to
contact me with any questions, just e-mail me.
Name: Steve Hoschouer
Email: Hoschman68@hotmail.com
Age: 30
Occupation: Police Dispatcher
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Sovereign
SailingDate: 12/24/98
Itinerary: Nassau/Coco Cay
FoodDiningRoom: 95
CruiseDirector: 80
CabinComfort: 80
FoodRoomService: 70
CruiseStaff: 95
CabinAmenities: 75
FoodLidoDeck: 75
DiningRoomService: 100
CabinQuietness: 85
FoodMidnightBuffets: 85
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 85
FoodVariety: 95
DeckService: 80
ShoreExcValue: 95
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff: 75
PrivateIsland: 95
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 80
TenderService: 75
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff: 40
EntertainmentLounges: 75
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 80
OverallPortsofCall: 70
BeautySalon: 80
EntertainmentPoolside: 80
CruiseActivities: 75
Casino: 80
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities: 90
ShipCleanliness: 95
EmbarkDisembark: 90
DiscoNightclubs: 75
DeckSpace: 70
Stabilization: 85
ShopsOnBoard: 80
SpaceRatio: 90
OverallCruiseValue: 90
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 29 Dec 1998
Time: 06:17:31
Remote Name: 208.24.49.174
Remote User:
Comments
For a first time cruise, this was quite an experience. With close to 40 family members on
board, there was definatly a variety of
opinions floating around the dinner table. Personally, I enjoyed the crise aboard the
Sovereign. As with almost all experiences
there were some good and bad points.
Embarkation went rather smoothly, until you tried to get on an elevator , then it became
every man for himself. Once dropping off
our carry on luggage in our closet/cabin we proceeded to the Windjammer Cafe for the
buffet. Nothing spectacular, but alot better
than the pretzels on the plane.
The real fun began when we sat down for dinner in the Kismet Dining room. The food was
delicious ( the portions were not very
large, most of the men in our group often ordered 2 main courses. We are not all HUGE,
just not big salad eaters I guess) , with
an excellent variety to choose from. Our Head Waiter Fredrick was very attentive to the
needs of our 16 month old son and was
extremly helpful in making the arrangements for when I proposed to my girlfriend at the
Formal dinner.(Unfortunatly the plans
changed and I proposed earlier at the group photo. Thanks anyway Fredrick.)
However, the highlight of our cruise I thought was the EXCELLENT service that we recieved
from our waiter NUNO and his
assistant waiter DANIEL. Both of these gentlemen were most attentive to our needs and
overall a pleasure to be around. From
Daniel dancing with our son to keep him quiet ( which is not and easy thing to do ) or
doing a magic trick to entertain some of the
other kids, to Nunos reccomendations on everything from dinner to shore excursions to
where to go in Nassau. I and the rest of
my family felt that these 2 men were far and away the best ambassadors of RCCL that we met
on the ship !!!
We did have a problem with the rude manager of the Beauty Salon, which was rectified,
somewhat. I strongly reccommend that
you DO NOT be even a minute late for a hair appointment, or it will be cancelled and you
will still be expected to pay for it.( Not
to mention that all of your other appointments for the day, such as having your hair put
up for the formal dinner will be cancelled.)
The food in the buffet lines was good, nothing spectacular, but pretty good. The casino
was fun, not the best odds, but still fun.
The entertainment in the bars and discos left a little to be desired. I think that some of
them are still using the routine from the
maiden voyage in 1988. Cabins are small, but the point is not to spend alot of time in
them. Our cabin attendant Eric was
GREAT, kept the room made clean, and really helped out alot. Overall the experience
on-board was pretty good. They put on
some special things for Christmas such as caroling in the Centrum and pictures with Santa
that were nice. (However $6.50 for a
picture is a little steep I thought.)
Nassau was dirty when we got there due to some type of Parade I slept through, and it
smelled REALLY bad. Typical tourist
shops and vendors right off the pier, get away from there and you can see some interesting
sites. Paradise was really interesting,
especially The Dig, check it out if you can. Coco Cay was a great day at the beach, but
get there early and get a beach chair.
Snorkeling was awesome. Check out the fish feeding area by the sunken airplanes, and the
deep water area if you want to see
some larger fish and coral formations.
Overall it was a great experience, and I can't wait to go again on my honeymoon.
Name: Barbara D. Zimmermann
Email: zim@map.com
Age: 48
Occupation: Technical writer
NumberOfCruises: 3
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Sovereign
SailingDate: November23, 1998
Itinerary: Nassau, CoCoCay, Key West
FoodDiningRoom: 90
CruiseDirector: 80
CabinComfort: 83
FoodRoomService: 85
CruiseStaff: 77
CabinAmenities: 83
FoodLidoDeck: 85
DiningRoomService: 90
CabinQuietness: 90
FoodMidnightBuffets: 85
CabinSteward: 90
ShoreExcVariety:
FoodVariety: 88
DeckService: 86
ShoreExcValue:
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff: 86
PrivateIsland: 94
GoodForFamilies: 83
LoungeService: 84
TenderService: 992
GoodForSeniors: 89
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 82
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 89
OverallPortsofCall: 85
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 84
CruiseActivities: 79
Casino: 85
AirSeaProgram: 71
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 89
EmbarkDisembark: 85
DiscoNightclubs: 81
DeckSpace: 89
Stabilization: 90
ShopsOnBoard: 85
SpaceRatio: 89
OverallCruiseValue: 85
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 03 Jan 1999
Time: 15:54:10
Remote Name: 204.71.19.82
Remote User:
Comments
First I think it is important to say that have really enjoyed reading critiques written by
other cruisers and feel that my vacations
have been enhanced because of the information and insights that I have received from this
forum. By contributing to the cruise
reference library I hope to return the favor and help others make appropriate choices.
Because 'the times they are a changin’…' this was our last 'family' vacation. My
husband and I discovered cruising a couple of
years ago and have thoroughly enjoyed each experience. This was our third cruise, but the
first one that included our daughters,
aged 24, 22, and 16. To work around school calendars proved to be a challenge and
Thanksgiving week was the only week
acceptable to all of us. In retrospect some of my criticisms were probably exacerbated by
the fact that it WAS Thanksgiving
week. It would be unfair to make broad statements suggesting that these problems would
occur on every cruise but our final
evaluation placed BOTH of our other cruises as more enjoyable and better values. (We have
sailed a 6-day cruise on the RCL
Nordic Empress from San Juan to Port Canaveral and a 7-day Southern Caribbean on the CCL
Fascination.) We will not however
book another cruise on a holiday week or recommend this one to anyone other than a
first-time cruiser.
Overall the Sovereign of the Seas was a pleasant ship and we had a good time. The ship is
maintained well and the amenities
are more than adequate. The staff was hardworking and personable. Once they perceived that
you wanted to talk 'with' them
rather than 'to' them, most of the dining room and cabin staffs were exceptionally
friendly and helpful. Almost everyone seemed to
be genuinely concerned that you were having a good time. The most notable exception to
this was the recreation staff who
seemed to be indifferent most of the time. I think some of them have been at this too
long!
Accolades: Because itineraries and shore excursions are widely published and readily
available, I will comment only on the ship
and related activities.
Our favorite day: Without a doubt CoCo Cay is the tropical island everyone wants to run
away to! We’ve been here before and
hope to come again. It is the perfect place to decompress from the REAL world. Every
cruise should have a day like this!
Favorite entertainment: Goes to Cruise Director John Blair for his Neil Diamond
performance, and the resident singers and
dancers! The nightly show is high on our list of pluses this ship has to offer. Whenever a
performer attempts to recreate another
well-known performer he runs the risk of outright failure and especially of alienating
true fans. John Blair performed flawlessly and
we thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this show! The Paramount Singers and Dancers review
‘Retro Active’ was fun for the whole
family. The utilization of lighting and special effects was superb. On this particular
cruise we felt that the resident ensemble cast
was superior to the “guest” performers.
Criticisms: Memories and photographs are all that remain after a vacation that goes by
much too quickly. Unfortunately some of
the “warm and fuzzy” feelings that usually remain for a period of time after a
cruise just aren’t there this time. Several unexpected
or unanticipated experiences made this an OK but not a great cruise. The following
specifics relate to our recent cruise on the
Sovereign of the Seas…
The Air/Sea package was horrible!!! Again I will try to be fair in the evaluation and
acknowledge that it was Thanksgiving week,
BUT there was no excuse for the arrangements which were just plain unacceptable. This took
as by complete surprise because
our previous Air/Sea package with RCL was superb. This trip required a whole day of
unnecessary hassle just getting to the ship.
Our departure site is Bradley International Airport in Hartford, CT. We live about an hour
from the airport and were scheduled for
an 8am flight. The morning of departure there were at least 2 direct flights to Miami that
left while we were in the terminal, but we
were routed to Miami via an Atlanta connection with a 2 ½ hour layover. We did not arrive
in Miami until about 2:40 and it took
the better part of an hour and a half for the company representative to collect everyone,
call up the bus and transport us to the
terminal. Embarkation had started about noon and the ship was scheduled to depart at 5 pm.
Check in was easy because
everyone else was already on board. By the time we got onto the ship, dropped our carry-on
luggage in our cabins and activated
our sign-sail cards, the buffet was over, the bar was closed and the life board drill was
beginning. We basically felt that the RCL
transportation arrangements deprived us of the whole afternoon of 'bon voyage' activities
and getting acquainted with the ship. On
a short cruise those 4 or 5 hours are important! The arrangements for the flight home were
also very poor. We were routed from
the Fort Lauderdale airport, which in and of itself was not a problem. When we booked
Air/Sea we thought this would be ok
because a day excursion touring Miami would be a nice end to the vacation. WRONG- it was
only after we went to purchase
tickets for the Miami tour that we were told that it would be impossible to do so because
we were flying out of Fort Lauderdale.
Cruisers cannot take advantage of ANY of the Miami 'day excursions' as they only accept
passengers flying out of Miami Airport.
So now, we are off the ship at 10:10am, our flight home is not until 4pm. Six hours in the
airport – lovely! Just how we wanted to
end our vacation. I’m sure that we are not alone with this complaint because there
were at least two full buses of cruisers
heading to Fort Lauderdale airport. Many had late day flights. If RCL is going to route
cruisers through late day flights from Fort
Lauderdale, then some provision should be made to provide the option of 'day excursions'
similar to those available for the Miami
airport. But we are not home yet. We are routed from Fort Lauderdale to Cleveland.
(Somehow I never considered Ohio as being
a convenient or efficient way to get from Florida to Massachusetts!) With an anticipated
layover of 2 ½ hours we are scheduled to
arrive in Hartford at 10:55 pm. That’s a long time since getting off the ship!
Obviously the Royal Caribbean catch phrase of 'you
deserve some pampering' does not apply to the transportation portion of your vacation!
Fortunately for us a Continental agent in
Fort Lauderdale also thought this was absurd when there were seats available on an earlier
flight to Newark, NJ with connections
on to Hartford. Bless her soul, we arrived in Hartford about 8:30 pm! Next cruise
it’ll be “Thanks, but no thanks for Air/Sea”.
Early Show Times: On two of the nights the Second seating guests had their show BEFORE
dinner, at approximately 7:15pm. I
don’t know if this is standard procedure on this ship or if it was an accommodation
to the large number of families traveling with
young children over the holiday, but regardless we did not like it at all! We always
request second seating for dinner for several
reasons. We appreciate not being rushed when we return from a shore excursion; we look
forward to sunset and early dusk up
on deck , and we enjoy a whole evening of late night activities. This cruise struck out on
all three counts! We were rushed, we
missed sunset because we were getting ready for the show, and virtually nightlife seemed
non-existent! Even on the evening with
the mid-night buffet on deck, things were winding down by 1am.
Scheduling of recreation staff: To us this seemed like there were unnecessary gaps of time
between activities because of poor
scheduling. For lack of a better term lets just say that one of the functions of the
recreation staff is to 'Incite the crowd', whether it
be for a conga line, country line dancing or a sing along etc. When the staff were
present, they were fine working the crowd,
stirring things up and encouraging guest participation. The problem was, instead of having
1 or 2 individuals on deck for an
extended time period and being relieved periodically by a new person, it seemed the
recreation staff worked only as a group of 5
or 6 at a time. They got group activities going for about 45 minutes and then they would
all disappear and the activities kind of
floundered. On a similar note, while the cruise director was by far the best entertainer
we have seen, we did not see nearly the
personal interaction with the guests as on our other cruises. This was unfortunate in our
opinion because, with no slight intended
to the captains, the personality of the cruise director profoundly impacts the ship’s
personality.
Deterioration of the ShipShape Program: Since our last RCL cruise 18 months ago this
program has gone down hill. We enjoyed
it because it was a good way to meet people, get some sunshine and fresh air and work off
the desserts from the previous night!
Our experience on this cruise and the experience of it least one other family we met was
really frustrating. 1) Several occasions
no crew member showed up at the times and places listed in the Cruise Compass for
ShipShape activities, therefore guests
ready, willing, and able to participate were disappointed and denied the ability to earn
ShipShape dollars, and 2) several
teenagers working to earn a ShipShape beach bag did not know until the end of the week
that the beach bags were not available
on this ship. To RCL if anyone who cares is reading this review, either support and
promote the program or kill it! Perhaps you
could avoid disappointing most people if you are up front about what incentives are
available at the beginning of each cruise.
Perhaps a display in the spa or in the lobby with the incentives that are actually
available on THAT cruise and the number of
ShipShape dollars needed would go a long way to avoid problems. With this knowledge at the
beginning of the cruise, individuals
could make up their minds if participation was important.
FYI Muster Stations: My final comment is probably irrelevant to 95% of the passengers but
to the few people it does effect, you
won’t find this information published anyplace. My husband and I were travelling with
our three daughters in 2 cabins across the
hall from each other. (Note: we did not have connecting cabins so I don’t know how
they are handled.) Guess what? We’re
assigned different life boats! Our muster stations were not even within sight of each
other! Now, our daughters are young adults
and for the sake of the lifeboat drill we all went to our assigned muster stations. All
well and good - but in light of the recent
emergency on the Monarch of the Seas, if you are travelling with children in a separate
cabin you may wish to inquire about this.
To be honest had an emergency occurred it would have been a cold day in hell before I
would have reported to my assigned
station away from my children!
In summation, I do not wish to leave anyone with the impression that we had a bad cruise.
Barring the time spent getting to the
cruise and home again we had fun almost every minute! With the exception of the air/sea
package and the information about the
muster stations, the other criticisms reflect personal preference and are of little
consequence if your preferences are different
from mine. If you have similar feelings and can afford the extra cost of plane fare to San
Juan, the Nordic Empress might be a
better choice.
Name: Rod Cramer
Email: rcramer@planetkc.com
Age: 35
Occupation: Fleet Manager
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Sovereign
SailingDate: September 21,1998
Itinerary: Nassau, Coco Cay, Key West
FoodDiningRoom: 98
CruiseDirector: 86
CabinComfort: 95
FoodRoomService: 75
CruiseStaff: 95
CabinAmenities: 95
FoodLidoDeck: 85
DiningRoomService: 100
CabinQuietness: 100
FoodMidnightBuffets: 80
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 95
FoodVariety: 95
DeckService: 95
ShoreExcValue: 80
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff: 85
PrivateIsland: 80
GoodForFamilies: 95
LoungeService: 95
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors: 90
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 98
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 95
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 95
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino: 85
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 98
EmbarkDisembark: 90
DiscoNightclubs: 95
DeckSpace: 95
Stabilization: 90
ShopsOnBoard: 95
SpaceRatio: 95
OverallCruiseValue: 100
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 06 Jan 1999
Time: 23:17:02
Remote Name: 209.223.82.76
Remote User:
Comments
Our cruise should have been called the Sovereign of the Seas Hurricane special. As you can
tell by the date of
our departure, it was Hurricane George time down south. But believe it or not, this worked
out in our favor.
We boarded the ship without any problems, yes there was a line, but the RCCL staff works
well together.There
was four of us all together for this great adventure. Once on board the crew headed us in
the direction of our
cabins, rooms 5522 &5524. The joining cabins proved to be alot of fun and very
helpful. The size of the rooms
could always be bigger but there was enough room to get done what you needed to do. We had
our cabin
steward make our bed into a queen, and it felt almost like home every night. The turn down
service and
chocolates on the pillows every night was some thing to look forward to after a long day.
We carried our bags on with us and quickly unpacked. The quest for lunch had begun. We
found the boat easy to
get around on but very large. The Windjammer Cafe for lunch had all of the makings needed
to feed a group of
hungry travelers. Needless to say it hit the spot.
Next we headed back to the room to watch the video on the life boat drill and talk about
what excursions we all
wanted to do. The TV in our room worked great but the TV in my brother in laws room had
seen better days. The
life boat drill is very important but don't let it bother you it's a breeze.
With the excursions, get to the counter when it opens the activities fill up very fast.
The jet ski tour sells out first,
it's cost is $80.00 single or double but it is a blast!
The food on board we thought was very good. The steaks aren't as good as what you get here
in Kansas City but
they tried. I found the food to be plentiful, delicious, and very pleasing. The staff in
the dinning room bend over
backwards to please. Our waiter Sanjeev, made sure each and every dinning experience was
the very best. He
called us by our name, pulled the chairs out for the ladies, and our glasses never went
dry. The midnight buffet
was always fun to see, and the selections were good.
First stop Nassau, it was sunny, hot, and the people there was ready to help you do what
ever you wanted to do.
We didn't stray far from the boat because we had booked the Sting Ray tour. To swim with
these creatures was
really pretty cool they are gentle, fun, and the free rum punch after the swim tasted
great.
Second stop Coco Cay, the private island of Royal Caribbean. It is a kick back, sun
filled, water watching day. The
crew serves lunch, they call it BBQ. But being from the BBQ capital of the world, I know a
little about BBQ and this
was just a teaser compared to what you can taste here in KC. A very relaxing day, only
problem was a massive
jelly fish invasion on that day prevented alot of people from enjoying the water. The
pools on the ship would be
better bet on that day.
The third stop would have been Key West. Key words here 'would have been'. Once on board
from the day of fun
at Coco Cay, the Captain tells us the Key West stop would be cancelled due to the
hurricane. We would spend
Thusday at sea 350 miles away from the hurricane. He opened up the bar for one hour of
free drinks. While
preparing to eat our last dinner on board Thursday night the Captain gives us an update on
the weather hitting
south Florida. As it turns out, for our safety we would remain at sea on Friday away from
the storm because the
hurricane had set it's sights on the port of Miami. The Captain informed us that RCCL was
sending out to the
boat travel specialists to help everyone rebook travels plans they might of had to get
home. The Captain also
allowed ten minutes per passenger to call home and inform our loved ones of our good
health and our safe
distance away from the hurricane. Keep in mind a phone call on the ship cost $15.50 a
minute.
The events that effected this cruise was an act of god and Royal Caribbean didn't have to
do anything to help us,
but they did. The concern for our safety, the help with rebooking travel plans, &
providing transpotatation to the
airport, are things that add up to a great cruise line. Not everyone will have as good of
a time as we had, but like a
fellow passenger said in a previous review, 'the fun is what you make of it'. We will
definitely choose Royal
Caribbean again!
Feel free to E-mail me if you have any questions.
Name: Eric C. Hughes
Email: terineric@excite.com
Age: 29
Occupation: Musician
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Sovereign
SailingDate: Friday, January 22
Itinerary: Bahamas-CocoCay
FoodDiningRoom: 95
CruiseDirector: 90
CabinComfort: 90
FoodRoomService: 99
CruiseStaff: 90
CabinAmenities: 90
FoodLidoDeck: 90
DiningRoomService:
CabinQuietness: 0
FoodMidnightBuffets: 99
CabinSteward: 100
ShoreExcVariety: 90
FoodVariety: 99
DeckService: 95
ShoreExcValue: 90
GoodForHoneymoon: 100
CasinoStaff: 90
PrivateIsland: 95
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 95
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff: 95
EntertainmentLounges: 90
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 90
OverallPortsofCall: 85
BeautySalon: 95
EntertainmentPoolside: 90
CruiseActivities:
Casino: 90
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 90
EmbarkDisembark: 85
DiscoNightclubs: 90
DeckSpace: 90
Stabilization: 90
ShopsOnBoard: 85
SpaceRatio:
OverallCruiseValue: 95
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 30 Jan 1999
Time: 23:52:30
Remote Name: 207.41.54.164
Remote User:
Comments
This was my first cruise and my wife's second. We went with my parents for a three-day out
of Miami. Check-in was
smooth and easy. By the time we got to our cabin to change out of our New Hampshire
clothes and into our cruise
clothes our bags were already at our door. We goofed however-go to your cabin as soon as
you get to the ship and
grab your life jackets. This avoids you and the other 2000+ guests fighting for elevators
to get ready for the muster
drill. This drill is designed to familiarize you with the evacuation procedures. Anyway..
Once we got past that we
could relax, have a drink and watch the other ships pull-out before you embark. Choose the
late seating for
dinner-before we left the dock we (the early seaters) had to get dressed for dinner so we
missed the great view of
the Miami Beach Marina and South Beach. Our waiter Mr. Bennett of Jamaica was FANTASTIC!
Great service, great
smile and very friendly. The food was excellent and the menu choices were very good. I'm a
bit of a fussy eater and
even I had first and second choices. Dessert was a bit limited. We caught the show which
in our case was the
singers and dancers. They looked college aged but they were all right. Nassau was our
first stop on Saturday. We
declined a shore excursion which I WILL do next time. We decided to explore on our own and
that was a bit rough -
as soon as you get off the boat you get accosted by cabbies for tours of the islands for
about $23.00 a piece for a 3
hour tour (a three hour tour...). Then once you get off the docks there are MORE cabbies,
scooter jockeys, hair
braiders etc. I understand this is how they survive it just was a little overwhelming. My
wife and mother shopped
around, my dad and I found the first open bar/restaurant and sat on a terrace overlooking
the main street and drank
beer and people watched. There were plenty of stores for jewelry, watches, figurines
(Hummel, Lladro) and the
famous straw market.
We decided to go back to the ship and have lunch on board. Since we were in port the
ship
was almost vacant and we could really move with ease. We caught the show after dinner, a
commedian who again
was O.K. The Not So Newlywed Game was more entertaining. The midnight buffet was great -
all Carribean food
with a Reggae band poolside. After we went to the Musicman Lounge to dance to a rock/pop
band. They were very
good. CocoCay was our final stop on Sunday. My wife and I rented snorketl gear at the
island. $25.00 for mask,
snorkel, fins and vest. I'm going to bring my own next time. The day was overcast but the
visibility was good. I saw
my first manta ray and a ton of fish. The island BBQ was good too. We saw our waiter
working lunch after he had
worked breakfast and the Midnight buffet the night before. I would have snapped by then
but Bennett was smiling
and having a good time.
Our tender back to the ship was rocky due to the wind picking up. It was dramatic for a
while but everybody got back in one piece. Another great dinner, two jugglers 'The Gizmo
Guys'-very entertaining.
One of the jugglers sat with us during the midnight buffet. I won $22.00 playing slots
(off $5.00 not too bad) and my
wife sang Karaoke. She was a hit. Disembarkation was a bit tedious as we had to wait for
about 1 1/2 hours to get
off. We found our luggage fairly quickly and got out of the port no problems. COMPLAINTS:
We had an adjoining
cabin. That means a door was on our wall. Due to this door we could hear our neighbore
very clearly even if they
were whispering. Also our neighbors were smokers so all we could breather in our cabin was
smoke and it started
to reek in our cabin. Our cabin steward, Garnet was a Godsend. He helped us tape up the
door and the jamb so
smoke couldn't get through. Make sure when you book that you ask for a room that is not
adjoining. The waiting
around to disembark is my only other real gripe. COMPLIMENTS: Very friendly staff. It's
nice when you leave your
cabin for breakfast and your steward says 'Good morning Eric'. Plus the way the ice bucket
was always filled. The
bar waiter at dinner on the second night brought my dad the same brand of beer he ordered
the night before. I've
heard and read stories about peoples' Supercharge accounts being all messed up. But our's
was accurrate. I
highly reccomend RCCL to everyone for cruise value and service. Our next cruies will be
with them, hopefully a 7
day cruise.
Name: Jim Rains
Email: jrains@myhome.net
Age: 43
Occupation: 3D Computer Graphics Artist
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Sovereign
SailingDate: 1-25-99
Itinerary: Miami/Nassau/Coco BayCay/Key West
FoodDiningRoom: 90
CruiseDirector: 80
CabinComfort: 70
FoodRoomService: 85
CruiseStaff: 90
CabinAmenities: 65
FoodLidoDeck:
DiningRoomService: 95
CabinQuietness: 70
FoodMidnightBuffets: 95
CabinSteward: 80
ShoreExcVariety: 90
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService: 80
ShoreExcValue: 70
GoodForHoneymoon: 85
CasinoStaff: 80
PrivateIsland: 90
GoodForFamilies: 75
LoungeService:
TenderService:
GoodForSeniors: 90
BeautySalonStaff: 90
EntertainmentLounges: 90
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 85
OverallPortsofCall: 85
BeautySalon: 90
EntertainmentPoolside: 85
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino: 75
AirSeaProgram: 50
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 60
EmbarkDisembark: 90
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 80
Stabilization: 80
ShopsOnBoard: 85
SpaceRatio: 80
OverallCruiseValue: 85
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 10 Feb 1999
Time: 15:20:47
Remote Name: 206.129.152.84
Remote User:
Comments
This was our first cruise and we had looked forward to it for some time. Overall, we had a
great time, and look
forward to our next cruise. Here are some comments and suggestions I have, especially for
first timers, like
ourselves. Make your own air arrangements! We knew better, but still went with the
air-cruise package. We left
Seattle at 10:30 p.m., got to Atlanta at 5:30 a.m., had a three-hour layover, flew out at
8:30 a.m., and arrived in
Miami at 10:30 a.m. Once in Miami, we had to wait until 12:30 p.m. for transfers to the
ship. By the time we made
it to bed that evening, we had went for 34 hours without sleep! One plus, though. At the
airport, Royal Caribbean
took care of the boarding documents, so our transfer at the dock was fast and easy.
Our luggage was delivered
to our room minutes after we arrived. Boarding was easier and more orderly than I had
expected. Our arrival at
our room was a disappointment, though. We had upgraded to one of the best rooms on the
ship, on level 10,
since we knew we wouldn't be happy in one of the smaller cabins. We were happy with the
size of the room, but
very displeased with the furnishings and cleanliness (There were dirt and small bits of
paper on the floor, and
hair on the bathroom floor). The furniture was dated, worn, and we felt very tacky,
especially for a suite. We did
complain about the cleanliness and our steward cleaned it while we at dinner that evening.
As the ship was fully
booked and we were in one of the best rooms, at the time, we didn't ask to change rooms or
anything. The room
had an irritating squeak when at sea, that I couldn't seem to locate, but other than that
everything else was
satisfactory. The food was very good. I tried several dishes that I hadn't ate before and
ate entirely too much.
There weren't a lot of choices for breakfast, but what was there was good. I ate dinners
in the dining room, and
breakfast was split between the dining room and the Windjammer café. I was very happy
with the food at both
places.
The service was impeccable, and our waiters were very attentive. Dinners were pleasant
and
entertaining. Most of the time we were alone, or one other couple at our table as the
other guests must have
dined elsewhere. While the midnight buffets were mainly cold cuts, salads, cheese and
deserts, I thought they
were excellent and presented in a very interesting way. We made it to most of the shows
and on board
entertainment, and enjoyed them. The headlining comedian was hilarious. There weren't any
big names, but we
weren't expecting any. Our first stop at Nassau, Bahamas, was fun. The shops were
interesting and seemed to
actually have some good buys. My biggest gripe? The Bahamians waiting on shore asking for
money, or "tips"
that you have to wade through. I suppose I became rude after the fifth one or so. I went
out on my own, so I don't
have any knowledge of the excursions offered there.
Our second day on Coco Bay Cay was a lot of fun. The
food wasn't impressive, it was a Barbeque, so you couldn't expect too much, but it was ok.
The snorkeling was a
disappointment, but through no fault of the cruise line. The water was just too choppy and
it was too windy to be
able to snorkel without it being like work. There was a lot to do and everyone had fun, I
think. Key West was fun
and interesting also. Debarking went well. We were among the first off the ship, so that
may have helped, but
there was little confusion and we were aboard the shuttle to the airport in no time. Most
of the confusion that we
did see was caused by guests cramming into the waiting area that didn't need to be there.
They made
announcements that you would get off the ship by way of color coded tags in order of your
airline departure time.
One of the only other complaints I had was due mainly to the rudeness of other
passengers. There were signs
throughout the ship and announcements repeatedly made over the intercom about smoking on
board, but were
largely ignored by many people. They were smoking in the elevators, lobbies and other
areas that made
breathing difficult. There was a wide assortment of people of all ages and walks of life
on board, and made for
interesting conversations. For the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed my vacation, and would
highly recommend a
cruise to anyone considering it.
Name: K Strandberg
Email: wcs@rea-alp.com
Age: 53
Occupation: nurse
NumberOfCruises: 2
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Sovereign
SailingDate: 02/08/99
Itinerary: Miami-Nassau-CoCoCay-Keywest
FoodDiningRoom: 90
CruiseDirector: 95
CabinComfort: 90
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 95
CabinAmenities: 100
FoodLidoDeck: 95
DiningRoomService: 95
CabinQuietness: 90
FoodMidnightBuffets: 89
CabinSteward: 100
ShoreExcVariety: 95
FoodVariety: 95
DeckService: 95
ShoreExcValue: 89
GoodForHoneymoon: 95
CasinoStaff: 89
PrivateIsland: 100
GoodForFamilies: 85
LoungeService: 89
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors: 90
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 99
WheelchairAccess: 99
ExerciseFacilities: 90
EntertShowLounge: 99
OverallPortsofCall: 98
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 89
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino: 89
AirSeaProgram: 89
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 99
EmbarkDisembark: 98
DiscoNightclubs: 90
DeckSpace: 99
Stabilization: 100
ShopsOnBoard: 95
SpaceRatio: 99
OverallCruiseValue: 100
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 14 Feb 1999
Time: 12:54:51
Remote Name: 206.147.9.47
Remote User:
Comments
My husband and I and another couple returned, just recently from the 4-day Bahamas cruise
, a great trip, great
weather, beautiful ship, a good itinerary. Be prepared to either put down $ 200.00 or a
credit card for use
against any purchases made while on the ship, no cash spending allowed, cruise card only
used, must be
prepared to settle up the bill the day before departure from ship if cash paying and will
be itemized on a
statement to the cabin prior for any disputes, found our statement to be accurate to the
penny. A fresh bucket of
ice and sodas provided to the room daily, take note all sodas and the bottled water used
are charged to your
account at a $ 1.50 each.
The cabins are a little small, we had 4 in a room, 2 bunk beds, we survived fine, never
in the room, so found the extra savings fine with us., but one must be very agile to climb
up the ladders to the top
bunk. the cabin steward very pleasant, her name was Susan, cabins were provided with all
the amenities, and a
wonderful treat , to have the beds made each morning and turned down at night, with the
little chocolates on
your pillow. , very accomodating staff. The noise ,very little, we were able to rest well,
we had an inside cabin and
toward the the middle of the ship.
The dining rooms were great, good variety, we chose to go to the Windjammer
2 nights for a more casual dining experience, though the staff in the main dining room
were very attentive. , it
was a nice break according to your busy sun filled day. We did marvel at how a completely
fully booked ship,
2500 plus, could have more than adequate space for all to find places to sit in the sun. ,
the lounges and staff
great, and beautiful. surroundings. The casino is quite large and variety provided for the
different games to play.
We did not go on the scheduled tours, did our own thing, took city busses to the outskirts
of the islands, toured
the surroundings, hotels and shops back in the town, typical tourist purchases with the
t-shirts etc.
Took a ferry
on Nassau to Paradise Island, a long walk from here to the Atlantis Hotel, a beautiful
place. The most restful, was
CocoCay the private island, great day in the sun, the tender service excellent, the food
good, plenty of seating
on the beach and space, hammocks in the trees, many chaise lounges,trails to take if want
to hike along the
beach, we saw sting rays close to shore and some pretty fish without using the
snorkeling.equipment. The tours
range from $25.00-$80.00, we found it more relaxing to do our own thing and when we wanted
too. The shops on
the ship were a little expensive, they marked a lot of things down toward the end of the
trip.
The air/sea program
could be improved, it was a long day for us had a 5-6 hour layover in Fort Lauderdale, and
2 stops going and
coming home, I think they could have arrange it so one could have at least a non-stop
flight, we came from the
midwest and had stops to make in each direction, if they would have booked us on Northwest
it would have only
been 4 hours total, check into this before making final arrangements , to either make your
own this way or see if
it can be changed by the travel agent, otherwise you are in the airports a good portion of
the day. , didn't arrive
at the ship till till after 2:00 p.m., and had left at 7:30 a.m.
The stabilization of the ship excellent no hint of sea
swells, not even around KeyWest or Miami areas where this has been a problem area for
some.
Embarking/Disembarking were smooth, very organized, one must allow time for there
procedures to be carried
out and not to fret, they call off passengers according to colored tags you receive the
night before for the
luggage, it goes very well and quick, just have patience. Consider the ship size and
things run very well in all
areas, I was very amazed and pleased with all , we had been on a Carnival cruise before
and this was 100 %
improved no doubt about it, yes we would go on another Royal Caribbean maybe longer at
sea. This ship is very
clean and with beautiful colors to its decor..
Name: Lisa teDuits
Email: lteduits@mediaone.net
Age: 32
Occupation: Paralegal
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Sovereign
SailingDate: February 15, 1999
Itinerary: Bahamas, CocoCay & Key West
FoodDiningRoom: 95
CruiseDirector: 70
CabinComfort: 90
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 90
CabinAmenities: 90
FoodLidoDeck: 85
DiningRoomService: 90
CabinQuietness: 95
FoodMidnightBuffets: 90
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 95
FoodVariety: 95
DeckService: 90
ShoreExcValue: 20
GoodForHoneymoon: 95
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland: 95
GoodForFamilies: 95
LoungeService: 95
TenderService:
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 90
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 50
EntertShowLounge: 80
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 95
CruiseActivities: 80
Casino: 90
AirSeaProgram: 95
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 95
EmbarkDisembark: 95
DiscoNightclubs: 95
DeckSpace: 95
Stabilization: 95
ShopsOnBoard: 80
SpaceRatio: 90
OverallCruiseValue: 90
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 21 Feb 1999
Time: 11:04:39
Remote Name: 24.128.16.6
Remote User:
Comments
This cruise was a first cruise experience for both my husband and I. We went with another
couple who had never
cruised before.
For the most part, we really enjoyed this cruise. We found the ship to be very clean
although the style was dated
in some areas of the ship.
The embarkation went very smoothly. Members of the RCCL staff met us as soon as we walked
off the plane and
we were able to complete the processing of the customs paperwork at the airport so that we
could walk directly
onto the ship when we were dropped off at the ship terminal by the RCCL bus. Upon entering
the ship, we were
impressed with the lobby and we were directed to our room. One thing that I was not
impressed with were the
waiters walking around and pushing the Bahama Mamas and Pina Coladas. I found this to be
very tacky. I do not
have a problem with these drinks being available to you (at $5.75 each!) but I do not want
to be asked 10 times
in my first 10 minutes on the ship if I would like to purchase one of these drinks.
We proceeded to our cabin and we were shocked at the size of the room. Due to the fact
that we had never
cruised before and we were not warned by our travel agent, we were suprised when we walked
in. The
dimensions were approximately 7x9. The room had twin beds which the Cabin Steward offered
to push together
as a full size bed. We got over the shock of the room size and decided to spend as little
time in the room as
possible! The bed was actually very comfortable for sleeping. One problem that I had was
the fact that there are
so many people that smoke cigarettes on the cruise. They walk around the halls and up and
down the stairs
smoking (yuck!). I think that RCCL should designate non-smoking floors on the ship so that
those of us that are
offended by cigarette smoke can breathe a little easier. We proceeded to the shore
excusion desk and made our
plans which included golf for my husband and his friend along with snorkelling for the
four of us. The forms are
placed in a box. We were surprised that the desk was not open so that we could speak with
someone regarding
the excursions.
Our first night on the boat was very rocky. The captain made an announcement that the seas
heading out to the
Bahamas were very choppy but that the rockiness should not last long, and he was correct.
We ate dinner in the Gigi dining room (which was non-smoking) every night and we enjoyed
the company of the
individuals that sat at the table with us. I found the food selection and taste to be
outstanding. Our waiter was
very good. After dinner we headed back to our room because my husband and his friend
wanted to make sure
that the tickets for the golf trip had been delivered to our rooms. The tickets were
there, however, both my
husband and his friend were placed on the 'wait' list. Needless to say, both my husband
and his friend were very
upset (since the golf was a major bonus of the trip and they had brought their clubs
nearly 1500 miles in
anticipation!) They immediately went to the Shore Excursion Desk to rectify the situation
and found it closed.
Someone happened to be standing behind the desk and she curtly told them that she could
not help them. This
was a major distraction for the rest of the night, since the golf excursion was supposed
to leave at 8:30 the next
morning. Both my husband anand his friend made plans to be first in line the next morning
to make
arrangements to play. The next day they proceeded to the Shore Excusion Desk to be advised
by the staff that
only a limited number of spots were available for this trip and that if they wanted to
play they would have to go
ashore and "get a brochure on another course" and make their own arrangements.
If this is the case then they
should have been allowed to reserve spots prior to the cruise or the excursions should be
first come, first serve.
While my husband and his friend were arguing with the individuals working at the Shore
Excursion desk, I
received a call from the Shore Excursion Director telling me that two spots on the golf
trip were now available. I
advised the Director that my husband was standing at the Shore Excursion desk at this very
moment and she
proceeded to go over and give them the good news. This experience was very frustrating and
caused
unnecessary stress! After this terrible experience, my husband and his frienreturned from
their trip disappointed!
They stated that the course was a mediocre course at best and was definitely not worth the
$125.00 a piece.
The first stop was the Bahamas, I was not impressed with the stores in Nassau, however, we
made a trip over to
Paradise Island to walk through the Atlantis Hotel which was extremely impressive. Our
next stop was CocoCay.
This is the private island owned by RCCL. The island was beautiful and we enjoyed
snorkelling. The only thing
that I did not enjoy was the constant 'Get your Coco Locos' from the wait staff. You would
tell someone that you
were not interested and two minutes later another waiter would walk by and ask you again!
I understand that this
service generates money for RCCL but I do not want to be questioned by the wait staff
while I am trying to relax
in the sun. Why can't they just be available and let the guests ask the wait staff when
they are interested in a
drink? The next stop was Key West. We were told that we could disembark at 11:00 a.m. We
got in line on the
stairs on the second floor at 10:45 a.m. At 11:15 a.m., a few hundred people were gathered
on the stairs on the
second and third floors. A member of the RCCL staff told us to go up to the third floor.
Everyone walked up to
the third floor and started wandering around the lobby thinking that we were getting out
on another floor. We
could not locate a member of the RCCL staff to ask where we were suppose to go. We then
started walking back
to our original waiting area and found that there were another 100 people in front of us.
This was incredibly
frustrating to us seeing that we were first in line before being told that we need to go
to the third floor. We waited
in the second floor stairwell for another 45 minutes before finally an announcement was
made that we could not
leave the ship because a family who were not US citizens did not declare themselves to US
customs officials. This
family was told when they got on the ship that they needed to declare themselves in Key
West, they were also
told the night before our arrival in Key West. This was incredibly selfish of this family
to hold up the debarkation
of 1000 plus passengers who wanted to get off the boat. Several annoucements were made
looking for these
individuals. Our problem with this entire fiasco was the fact that RCCL should have made
this announcement
within 15 minutes of people waiting in the stairwell. Instead, people started to get angry
and were clapping and
chanting 'Let us out!' If we were aware of the problem, we would have sat by the pool
instead of standing in a hot
stuffy stairwell for almost 1.5 hours!!!
For the most part, we enjoyed our cruise and we will go again but we will be better
prepared as experienced
cruisers!
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