 |
 |
|
Note - this page contains multiple reviews.
Name: Nancy Velthuizen
Email: nancypma@connect.ab.ca
Age: 39
Occupation: Merchandiser
NumberOfCruises: 3
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Splendour
SailingDate: December 7/98
Itinerary: Southern Caribbean
FoodDiningRoom: 85
CruiseDirector: 90
CabinComfort: 98
FoodRoomService: 95
CruiseStaff: 90
CabinAmenities: 98
FoodLidoDeck: 87
DiningRoomService: 93
CabinQuietness: 99
FoodMidnightBuffets: 89
CabinSteward: 99
ShoreExcVariety: 90
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService: 90
ShoreExcValue: 80
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 90
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 87
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 85
EntertShowLounge: 87
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 86
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino:
AirSeaProgram: 85
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 99
EmbarkDisembark: 87
DiscoNightclubs: 90
DeckSpace: 97
Stabilization: 95
ShopsOnBoard: 90
SpaceRatio: 98
OverallCruiseValue: 95
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 04 Sep 1998
Time: 14:12:57
Remote Name: 206.75.40.49
Remote User:
Comments
My husband and I went on this cruise with my sister and her husband and our parents. We
each had our own outside stateroom which was beautiful. The
rooms are quite large on this ship as compared to some of the older RCCL ships. The peach
colors were warm and comforting. We took advantage of the
Air/Sea program which included a charter flight from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and took us
directly to San Juan which was very nice although the plane
was full and very tight so not comfortable at all. We had a night flight and arrived in
San Juan around 10:00 am. the next morning so we were exhausted,
only to find out we were not able to board the ship before 2 p.m. They took us, without
our luggage on a tour of Old San Juan on a small bus that had no
air conditioning and let us shop or walk around for several hours. The lineup at the
cruise terminal once we got there was not overly long and went
quickly. We were so happy to get to our rooms which were magnificent. Our suitcases were
already there and we were very pleased with the fabulous
Splendour of the Seas. We had a great time on board, there were plenty of activities to
keep us busy. There did not seem to be very many children on
board, although there may have been many and we did not notice them. We are planning a
cruise on the Majesty in 1998 with our 4 children so that may
prove to be an adventure. Our previous cruise with RCCL was on the Viking Serenade in 1992
which was also memorable. Okay, now for my opinion on
the food.
The dining room was lovely, we had a table for 8 right beside a window. Our waiter, Enzo
and Busboy Juan were the best in the dining room. They made
us laugh constantly and kept us up to date on news from Canada which was great because the
ships have mainly U.S. Citizens on board. The food was
good but not great. Our best fare so far was on the Viking Serenade. We found that the
quality of the food has gone down hill over the past years but it is
still good, just not great. The selection was fine, they are tending to go towards a more
healthy style of preparation which is good I suppose.
We had stops at Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten & St. Thomas. Do your shopping in St.
Maarten or Curacao for the best deals. They say St. Thomas is the
best place to shop but if you are going for liquor and souvenir shopping get it at these
two islands instead of waiting for St. Thomas. We chose to tour the
islands ourselves, become one of the natives as it were. We took local buses, just asked
where the bus stops were and hopped aboard for usually less
than $1.00 U.S. It was great fun, we got to tour around the islands, got off when we
wanted and it was a very thrifty way to go. We went golfing in Aruba
(caught the bus to a stop past St. Nicholas, walked 5 km.)and it was an adventure we will
never forget. Our bus trip in St. Maarten took us to a fabulous
beach area near the hotel strip, just off the main highway where we swam for a couple of
hours. We did the shopping thing in the morning everywhere. In
St. Thomas we walked into town from the pier, its 2 km. and hardly anyone walks it but it
was beautiful weather and we thought, why not. In the afternoon
we hiked up the island, quite a steep hike, about 8 km. and went to the beach there, then
walked back down to the cruise ship. All in all, we had a super
time and are not likely to forget our adventures on foot. If touring is for you, then by
all means do so, there are plenty of tours offered and they seem to
be well organized. Our stories were always better than those who took tours however.
Entertainment on board was okay, not great. Overall impression was that we would love to
sail this ship again! The mini-golf course was fun, $5.00 per
game or you could buy a pass for unlimited golf for $50.00. Dressing up was one of my
highlights, I love to change 5 times a day so this was great.
RCCL does a great cruise, do consider one and my suggestion is to take one of the newer
ships just so you can be more comfortable in your room, even
though you do not spend much time there, at least it is nice to be able to stretch out and
be able to put away your belongings without having to dismantle
half the room to do so.
Bon Voyage, have fun, we did!! If you are a Western Canadian planning on going, email me
first..
Name: Tom Dillon
Email: tdillon@altinet.net
Age: 56
Occupation: Technical Consultant
NumberOfCruises: 5
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Splendour
SailingDate: December 5, 1998
Itinerary: 11-night circle the Caribbean
FoodDiningRoom: 75
CruiseDirector: 95
CabinComfort: 100
FoodRoomService: 95
CruiseStaff: 100
CabinAmenities: 98
FoodLidoDeck: 80
DiningRoomService: 100
CabinQuietness: 85
FoodMidnightBuffets: 80
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 85
FoodVariety: 75
DeckService: 90
ShoreExcValue: 85
GoodForHoneymoon: 80
CasinoStaff: n/a
PrivateIsland: n/a
GoodForFamilies: 80
LoungeService: n/a
TenderService: 90
GoodForSeniors: 100
BeautySalonStaff: 90
EntertainmentLounges: 90
WheelchairAccess: 90
ExerciseFacilities: 85
EntertShowLounge: 70
OverallPortsofCall: 90
BeautySalon: 90
EntertainmentPoolside: 85
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino: n/a
AirSeaProgram: 95
MedicalFacilities: 95
ShipCleanliness: 100
EmbarkDisembark: 98
DiscoNightclubs: 90
DeckSpace: 100
Stabilization: 95
ShopsOnBoard: 85
SpaceRatio: 100
OverallCruiseValue: 98
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 17 Dec 1998
Time: 09:24:46
Remote Name: 198.67.34.2
Remote User:
Comments
Although this was my first RCI cruise, it was my wife's third, and my comments include her
experience with this cruise line.
Overall, I found this cruise vastly superior to all of my NCL cruises and about even with
Princess.
Just to get my complaints out of the way first: I felt that the entertainment on the ship
was terrible. With the sole exceptions of
'El Gaucho' and the ventriloquist from 'Soap' (his monkey is great!), the entertainment
was aimed at the primarily geriatric
clientele aboard. Big band music, old comedians with stale jokes, Peggy Lee music, etc.
might have been enjoyable for the older
folks, but I quickly became extremely bored. I must not have been alone, for I've never
seen as many people get up and leave an
on-ship show before...just minutes into the performances. According to my wife, it was not
up to RCI's normal standards.
The food: Again, according to my wife (prior sailings in 96 on the Legend and last March
on the Grandeur), the menu variety and
food quality were not up to par. The food was not bad, just not what we wanted.....sort of
boring, I would say, both in the dining
room and the Windjammer. One exception was the prime rib. For shipboard food, it was
excellent!
Our stateroom (7132, overlooking the stern) was quite nice, and the veranda was absolutely
huge! One nice thing about it
overlooking the stern was that we had no wind, even when the port and starboard verandas
were unusable due to high winds. We
had to ask to have our thermostat adjusted twice to cool off our room, but maintenance
response was very good. The only real
problem we had with our room was a strong urine smell in the bathroom sink after 6 days of
the cruise. (?????). Both our room
steward and maintenance took the sink apart and used bleach to get rid of the smell, but
all attempts were only temporary. We
couldn't understand this one at all. All-in-all, our stateroom was nice.
Vibration, however, was another matter. In bed, sitting on chairs in the dining room, and
just walking the deck, the Splendour has
a very noticable vibration when under way (even worse than the Legend).
Those were our only complaints, which really isn't bad at all for an 11-night cruise. We
had a good time, felt we got our money's
worth, and would definitely sail with RCI again.
Want to book your cruise at a great rate?
Click here.
Questions or comments? Mail to webmaster@cruiseopinion.com.
Copyright ©1996-2001 CruiseOpinion.com. Last modified: January 17, 2000.