I am very disappointed with the experience we had.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
Very disappointing. Service was less than average in the main dining room and Chops. Several food items on the buffet were sour/spoiled. Miss Washy Washy at the entrance of the Windjammer each morning was the only thing to look forward to! The Chefs table was a nice experience but should not last 4 hours. There was a hair in my food and the waiter asked me to show him. I showed him ... he then returned with the chef. The chef had a horrible attitude and tried to tell me it was part of the garnishment. Meanwhile, the hair that I saw and the people at the table saw was no longer on my plate. He put the plate in front of me and walked away. Extremely unprofessional and unacceptable ! The coffee throughout the ship was horrific. If a light or medium roast is wanted you should not have to pay extra at Starbucks- that is not a specificity drink. The drink package is ridiculous. My spouse and I don’t drink soda and he does not drink alcohol. Therefore, I could not get a drink package since you can not purchase one package. When we ate in the my time dining room they were very rude if we didn’t make a reservation- doesn’t that defeat the purpose of my time dining ?! We had no problem waiting for a table so I am not sure why the service had an attitude on several nights. The morning we disembarked we went to the dining room at 7:30 am for breakfast. The hostess had an attitude that so many people were coming to the dining room.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
It was very windy so the smoke and smell from the smoking section filled most of the pool area. There was a jewelry making class I chose to attend. The crew member that usually runs this activity was sick. This is understandable, things happen. The solution was to give out the kits and offer no guidance. Everyone worked on the kits and figured the steps out - trail and error. At the hour mark the crew member came in the Card Room and started gathering all the materials. Not one person had finished. There weren’t any other activities taking place in the room so we asked if they could leave the supplies a little longer so everyone could finish. The crew member was extremely rude and said the compass says this is 11:00-12:00- it’s 12:00 - it’s over. Someone else spoke up and said that they didn’t offer any guidance so it is taking a little longer. The crew member proceeded to argue and say it wasn’t her fault the original crew member was sick. Eventually, she stormed out of the room and shouted fine I’ll be back in 25 minutes!
Entertainment
1 out of 5
Lorenzo was great ! The game shows in the Imperial lounge were entertaining. The game show Liar Liar was clever. However, there was one crew member that made many negative comments about Royal Caribbean as well as Katie the cruise director. The Love and Marriage game boring - which is usually a great show! Katie chose a couple that was hard of hearing and the entire show was a drag. Everyone felt so bad and embarrassed for the couple.
Service and Staff
1 out of 5
I addressed waiters above
Our room steward was lesson than average. Needed to ask for more towels often, only had two animals created on a 9 day trip, bathroom floor was never cleaned.
One evening I went to customer service to ask for a map of Bonaire. The crew member was on the computer and taking time to find me a map. He printed out a map of Curcaco. He apologized and returned to the computer to search for a map of Bonaire. Another crew member came over to him and said, don’t waste their time if you cant find it just tell her to go to the excursions counter tomorrow morning. We had no problems waiting and this crew member spoke as if I wasn’t even standing there. The following morning we went to the excursion counter. I asked for a map and the crew member stated we don’t have maps. I asked him a few questions about the island and his response was I don’t know - I have never been to Bonaire before. Not helpful !
Ship Quality
1 out of 5
It was extremely annoying on port days staff would vacuum the elevators at the same time we were expected to back on the ship. Why tie up an entire elevator when hundreds of people are trying to use them. We were with another couple and both on floor 2. Due to the design of the ship we couldn’t get to each other’s room without going to floor 4 or 5 and walking across the entire ship to the other set of elevators. This was extremely annoying ! Level 4 you had to walk through the casino filled with cigarette smoke and level 5 you had to navigate the crowds.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
The bathroom floor and shower were not cleaned during the 9 day trip. The cabin was fine nothing exciting.
We did a jeep tour through Royal excursions- not great - the back of the truck was low so you couldn’t really see anything because of the height and bars. Beach was wonderful and clean
I was on the same trip and found things totally the opposite. We thought the food and service we had were great. We did my time dining and found out we could request the wait staff we liked the most. The down side to that is for the wait staff. They may seat you anywhere, and they still have to run all over the dining room to serve you and their other tables. So it slows them down. The second formal night we were appalled at how one table was treating their servers. They were so rude. Always expect slower service, because everyone comes out for lobster night and service will be slower. We treated each person that was working to provide us with service with kindness. As we were leaving one of the stateroom attendants, not ours, told us thank you for always being kind to them.
When you look for the bad in things, I'm sure you can find plenty, but, vacation is what you make it to be...
Have never been able to say we had a bad cruise. We feel that a cruise is what you make it. We have not always had everything perfect but we always make the best of it and have a great time.
Loved my experience.
Just an FYI, you can purchase a soda package just for you and then let your hubby pick another package (if any). I did this on my cruise on Adventure, no issues.
I think I can understand why your fellow cruise friends decided to book a Cabin far enough away from you. Do your homework before the cruise. The employees have jobs to do.
We were on Adventure a second time in July and in April it will be our third time. We love this ship and the crew has always been outstanding. Yes, we may have come across some very minor issues but that didn’t stop us from having a great time. It’s happened on every cruise or vacation we’ve ever taken. Nothing is perfect. We always go with an open mind. It’s amazing how the crew will go out of their way for you to solve any issue if you are respectful to them! They work so hard!
Sorry to hear about your experience. We have been on just once, staff was nice, but we'll be taken our 6th Royal cruise on Adventure in July. Actually the 2nd time on this ship! We cannot wait! We have ALWAYS had nothing but the best experience with Royal!! All the staff has been so professional and friendly and they for the most time, if they are not busy, Love to visit with you. As I said, we cannot wait! If I believed everything thing I see and read, I would not buy anything or go anywhere. You make it what you want it to be!!
I have to agree....it sounds like the crew was responding to how they were being treated. My 1st cruise ever was a month ago on another ship and I was blown away on how hard the crew works while remaining professional and courteous. Most of them went out of their way to be helpful.
Sounds like cruising isn’t for you since you didn’t enjoy much of anything. We were on Adventure of the Seas in November and had a completely opposite experience. We found a good variety and quality of food in both the dining room and buffet, the service was excellent, the entertainment was good and there were more activities onboard than we had time to do. I find it hard to believe everything went wrong in the 2 months since we sailed. Nothing is ever perfect, but when I see almost everything rated 1 star, that tells me much more about the attitude of the reviewer than it does about the ship.
*Cruiseline.com is not a booking agent or travel agency,
and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners
(travel agencies and cruise lines) provide prices, which we list for our
users' convenience. Cruiseline.com does not guarantee any specific rates or
prices. While prices are updated daily, please check with the booking site
for the exact amount. Cruiseline.com is not responsible for content on
external web sites.
Contact us
Submitting...
Need help from a personal vacation planner?
Loading...
Find the perfect cruise with weekly tips and cruise deals for as little as $30/night!
Sign up for weekly cruise deals
Join other subscribers and get the best
cruise deals of the week in your inbox every Thursday.
