Name: Rosemary Godliman
Email: rosemaryg@eos.co.uk
Age: 39
Occupation: Database Administrator
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Sovereign
SailingDate: 07/13/98
Itinerary: Miami/Nassau/Coco Cay/Key West
FoodDiningRoom: 90
CruiseDirector: 70
CabinComfort: 80
FoodRoomService: 90
CruiseStaff: 70
CabinAmenities: 80
FoodLidoDeck: 70
DiningRoomService: 90
CabinQuietness: 75
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 75
ShoreExcVariety: 80
FoodVariety: 85
DeckService: 80
ShoreExcValue: 70
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland: 95
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 80
TenderService: 70
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 80
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 100
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 80
CruiseActivities: 70
Casino:
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 95
EmbarkDisembark: 70
DiscoNightclubs: 80
DeckSpace: 90
Stabilization: 100
ShopsOnBoard: 80
SpaceRatio: 80
OverallCruiseValue: 85
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 31 Jul 1998
Time: 11:05:06
Remote Name: 192.149.121.94
Remote User:

Comments

My husband and I are English and this was our first cruise. We also took my 19 year old daughter with us who is a student in London.

Overall we thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and would definitely book again with Royal Caribbean. Embarkation was a bit tedious but mainly because, as non
US citizens we had more bits of paper to fill in. We found our cabin easily which was a triple berth outside cabin, it was quite small but we were happy with
it - we didn’t spend much time in there with so many facilities on board. The TV was quite useful for finding out what you were supposed to be doing and
when (especially disembarkation). The cabin was on deck 4 right at the bow end of the ship and was very quiet except when they lowered the anchor
early in the mornings on arrival in port. We did have to phone our neighbours in the cabin next door early one morning when their television was keeping
us awake. I can’t understand why anyone goes on a cruise with all the late night entertainment and sits in their cabin watching TV - you can do that at
home!

When we went to register our supercharge account we had a problem when the woman doing the registration punched a hole in my daughter’s card and
announced that the’19 year old child’ was not allowed to buy or drink alcohol on the ship. Now, as my daughter has been a legal adult since her 18th
birthday in her home country, this did not go down too well. We took the matter up at the Pursars Desk where an Assistant Pursar agreed that under
international law once the ship has set sail 18s and over can buy and consume alcohol. My daughter was then able to enjoy the cocktails that she had
been looking forward to but this is something for other Brits to note when sailing with American cruise companies with young adults - check the Cruise
company’s policy before you book.

Throughout our stay our Cabin Steward kept our cabin immaculate although the only time we saw him after the first introduction was when we had a
smelly spreading damp patch on the carpet in our cabin which we had already reported twice. He asked us if we had spilled something (which we had
not!) We lived with the damp patch and became adept at avoiding it particularly when we didn’t have any shoes on!!

The sheer size of the ship amazed us and we found everywhere very clean. We thought the food in the dining room was superb (except, as someone
else has commented, the hot soups) and the waiter and waitresses were very good, they entertained us as well as giving excellent table service. Oh yes,
don’t have the mint sauce with the roast lamb - I think they squeeze it out of a toothpaste tube. My daughter doesn’t eat meat or fish and she enjoyed all
the vegetarian dishes that she had.

We weren’t very well prepared for the enormous amount of tipping that is expected both on the ship and on the tours. We were getting through dollar
bills very fast and sometimes felt very uncomfortable because we literally ran out of cash on a few occasions and couldn’t give a tip. There’s something
very cynical about knowing that the service you are getting is to get more money out of you at the end. I would prefer that the cruise lines paid better
wages. Although tipping is supposed to be voluntary we still felt obliged to do it.

We went on a lot of the tours. The minibus tour of old town Nassau was pretty boring. The bus wasn’t air conditioned, we couldn’t hear what the driver
was saying and an hour and a half was too long - I think this tour has been stretched to last this long, we could probably have seen the sights in half the
time without being hurried. We saw a water tower, a fort and a torture dungeon - lovely. After the tour we shopped in the market but felt a bit pressured
by the stallholders eager to take our dollars.

We thought that the live shows on the ship were excellent. We are used to the standard of shows put on in the West End of London and the standard on
the ship was every bit as good. The star billed comedian and the star billed singer (sorry I have forgotten their names) were both very good. We booked
to go to a show at the Atlantis Hotel which also has a huge casino. We would rather have stayed on the ship - the show at the Atlantis was a waste of
money - lots of noise and colour and a terrible sound system.

The following day brought us to the desert island of Coco Cay. A tip here would have been to get up earlier - we weren’t ready to go until 11 am and we
then had to queue for an hour on the ship waiting to get on a tender. It was gone noon before we got to the island and people were already munching
their way through the barbecue when we arrived! We had hired floating mats and snorkelling equipment although I gave up the snorkelling idea because
I couldn’t be bothered to stand in yet another queue to learn how not to drown. The sea was wonderful (the little jelly fish didn’t seem to mind us
thrashing about in their water) and I floated about on my mat for far too long. It was a hot, hazy day and I underestimated the strength of the sun and
had lobster legs for a day or so afterwards! There were plenty of activities for the more energetic - parascending, banana boat rides etc. The barbecue
lunch was excellent although we didn’t get a pudding because they had run out (I have a sneaky feeling others had been round twice.....) We enjoyed
the island very much but were ready to get out of the hot sun by 4pm when we were ferried back to the ship.

The following day we took the Trolley Tour round Key West and then shopped while my daughter went off kayaking. We also paid a visit to Ernest
Hemmingway’s house and made a fuss of the cats there (typical English). We had lunch and a piece of Key Lime pie in a place called Papas on Duval -
the food was good, the air conditioning lovely but the service was a bit slow. Yes, Key West is a bit touristy as someone else has commented. But so
what? We were tourists and loving it. Try Fast Buck Freds for useless presents to take home to loved ones!

On the third morning we aliens had to report to US immigration on board the ship - the timing for this was 8.30 to 9.45. Guess what - our breakfast sitting
was 8.30 to 9.30. We turned up at 8.30 to find yet another long queue of other aliens waiting to have their passports stamped. We only just made it to
breakfast on time.

We were rudely returned to reality on our last morning by the loudspeaker announcing the names of the people who hadn’t paid their supercharge
accounts. We were glad that we had arranged to pay by credit card. Breakfast on the last day was scheduled for 8 am. We had booked the Miami
Highlights tour as we had time to spare before heading for the airport. The tour was due to leave at 8.45. We ordered our breakfasts but a stove had
broken down in the kitchen and by 8.30 am, with no breakfast in sight, we had to leave. As we were returning to our cabin to clean our teeth and grab
our hand luggage the last call for the tour went out. I abandoned husband and daughter to rush to the tour departure point so they didn’t leave without
us! We found the rest of our luggage fairly easily and, guess what, joined another queue for our airline checkin. When we reached the head of the
queue we were told we had to keep our luggage with us as we had an international flight. So with empty bellies, a terrible thirst and our suitcases still in
tow, we climbed aboard the Miami tour coach. The tour was quite interesting, they took us out to Coconut Grove, Coral Gables and to a park full of parrots
where breakfast (finally) consisted of dry roast chicken and instant mashed potato. Finally we were deposited at the airport in plenty of time for our flight
home.

Will we cruise again? Yes, definitely!

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