mrjwkyle
Second Mate
Charlwood, England
Joined 11/2015
13
Cruises4
Reviews105
Helpful VotesAmerican transplant now living in England. Lover of traveling and have visited 30 different countries so far. My favorite cruise has been my cruise with Royal Caribbean.
Upcoming cruises
Past cruises
February 2024 - 14 Night Western/Tropical Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip) Cruise on Nieuw Statendam
April 2023 - 7 Night Western Mediterranean (Barcelona Roundtrip) Cruise on Symphony of the Seas
Would I do it again?
This was a lovely, incredible ship. The entertainment, food and drink options were incredible. However the quality of the food was disappointing at times. The first time I’ve cruised without experiencing seasickness. I’ve cruised for 20 years now and the food has always been one of the highlights of this. Unfortunately, because this is such a large part of the experience, Royal would not be my preferred cruise line in the future. I would however recommend them for anyone with a family and kids that need entertaining and activities.
May 2022 - 14 nights on Enchanted Princess
October 2019 - 7 Night Mexican Riviera (Los Angeles Roundtrip) Cruise on Norwegian Bliss
February 2019 - 10 Night Malaysian Peninsula & Indonesia (Singapore Roundtrip) Cruise on Sapphire Princess
August 2017 - 7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip) Cruise on Carnival Magic
Disappointing
Unfortunately this will probably be my last cruise with Carnival. After experiencing Royal Caribbean and conversations with travelers on other cruise lines, I think I have matured beyond Carnival at this time.
February 2016 - 7 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip) Cruise on Carnival Magic
Better than expected
I haven't cruised with Carnival in nearly 10 years and found the experience to be a bit more "mature" than it had been the last time I sailed. The food was good and options were plentiful.
After recently taking a 7 day with Royal Caribbean I was able to make a side-by-side comparison between the 2. The one thing I found to be significantly different was the quality of service on the cruise. RC outperformed Carnival and I had to say at several occasions I was disappointment on this cruise. Our waiter in the main dining room was phenomenal and our room attendant was good, but beyond that, no one stands out.
The ports we visited where great and I've come away with a better opinion of Belize than I had had from a previous cruise. Roatan was absolutely gorgeous and I'm planning to go back to explore more of the island.
This was my 4th cruise with Carnival and though the service wasn't the best, It hasn't turned me off of them and I would travel with them again at the drop of a dime.
October 2015 - 7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip) Cruise on Freedom of the Seas
Nearly a perfect week.
This was my 4th cruise and my partners 1st. Experiencing it through his eyes was a great experience and I found him on our 2nd night looking into a future cruise. Quite surprising as it has taken nearly 10 years to get him to agree to take one. The staff was generally exceptional, especially our room attendant. We found the service in Johnny Rocket's to be "Less than Perfect", but each of the other speciality restaurant to be exceptional! Especially Sabor, which we visited twice on our cruise. Wifi was ok. Inconsistent at times, slow and expensive, but nice to have overall. Due to weather, we were not able to stop at one of our ports, but this give us more time in the next one and actually we were able to have 2 excursions instead of the one planned. I have to acknowledge the captain and team to keeping our safety at the utmost concern by making the decision to not tender in the rough seas and to carry on.
June 2006 - June 18, 2006 Cruise on Carnival Destiny (RETIRED)
June 2005 - 7 Night Exotic Western Caribbean (Miami roundtrip) Cruise on Carnival Valor
January 2002 - 7 Night Mexican Riviera (Los Angeles roundtrip) Cruise on Carnival Elation
Symphony of the Seas
Sail date: April 30, 2023
This was a lovely, incredible ship. The entertainment, food and drink options were incredible. However the quality of the food was disappointing at times. The first time I’ve cruised without experiencing seasickness. I’ve cruised for 20 years now and the food has always been one of the highlights of this. Unfortunately, because this is such a large part of the experience, Royal would not be my preferred cruise line in the future. I would however recommend them for anyone with a family and kids that need entertaining and activities.
Carnival Magic
Sail date: August 19, 2017
Unfortunately this will probably be my last cruise with Carnival. After experiencing Royal Caribbean and conversations with travelers on other cruise lines, I think I have matured beyond Carnival at this time.
Freedom of the Seas
Sail date: October 18, 2015
This was my 4th cruise and my partners 1st. Experiencing it through his eyes was a great experience and I found him on our 2nd night looking into a future cruise. Quite surprising as it has taken nearly 10 years to get him to agree to take one. The staff was generally exceptional, especially our room attendant. We found the service in Johnny Rocket's to be "Less than Perfect", but each of the other speciality restaurant to be exceptional! Especially Sabor, which we visited twice on our cruise. Wifi was ok. Inconsistent at times, slow and expensive, but nice to have overall. Due to weather, we were not able to stop at one of our ports, but this give us more time in the next one and actually we were able to have 2 excursions instead of the one planned. I have to acknowledge the captain and team to keeping our safety at the utmost concern by making the decision to not tender in the rough seas and to carry on.
Carnival Magic
Sail date: February 07, 2016
I haven't cruised with Carnival in nearly 10 years and found the experience to be a bit more "mature" than it had been the last time I sailed. The food was good and options were plentiful.
After recently taking a 7 day with Royal Caribbean I was able to make a side-by-side comparison between the 2. The one thing I found to be significantly different was the quality of service on the cruise. RC outperformed Carnival and I had to say at several occasions I was disappointment on this cruise. Our waiter in the main dining room was phenomenal and our room attendant was good, but beyond that, no one stands out.
The ports we visited where great and I've come away with a better opinion of Belize than I had had from a previous cruise. Roatan was absolutely gorgeous and I'm planning to go back to explore more of the island.
This was my 4th cruise with Carnival and though the service wasn't the best, It hasn't turned me off of them and I would travel with them again at the drop of a dime.
Cruise tips
Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands
Gorgeous old town and a short ride from the ship. I’m of two minds due to needing to pay for a shuttle to simply enjoy the port stop.
One of my favourite places in the world.
Symphony of the Seas
If you’ve sailed with Royal Caribbean prior to the pandemic, lower your expectations in regards to the food offerings.
Nice, lovely beach right outside the ship. Affordable and free loungers on the beach are available and plentiful.
We didn't do any sanctioned excursions but did the Hop on Hop off bus around Old and New San Juan.
Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic
Nice purpose built port for the cruise line. Could benefit from an expansion to accommodate the number of passengers. We did not partake in any other activities here.
Carnival Magic
I honestly cannot recommend this ship. I have been on it twice and theirs obviously a cultural change. I actually truly enjoyed the Cruise Director, Reverend Dr. E, who was also the same when I cruised in February 2016 and didn't enjoy as much then. There's a monotonous, robotic cultural of service that is present on the ship now that has never existed on this ship or any other Carnival cruise I've taken in the past and it's significantly below the standard of Royal Caribbean. The only benefit is cost, as the cruises with Carnival are generally cheaper but personally my satisfaction is more important than cheap thrills.
The Sea Trek adventure must be done. Couldn't have imagined a better way to experience the island.
Cococay (Cruise Line's Private Island)
Did not stop due to weather.
Tree lyming Zip Line Adventure was a fun experience. The staff was friending and keep our safety in mind at each step.
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