This was our first cruise on RCCL and we loved it. The ship was well designed and laid out. Had that small ship feel but had all of the amenities of a large ship. The food was excellent and the dining experience great. They are well organized and handle the mix of fixed dining and my time dining very very well. North Star is well worth the time to ride it. The view from up there is great.
I would recommend both this ship and the 3 days in port in Bermuda to anyone without hesitation.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was smooth easy and painless. We arrived at port at 10 AM via our vehicle. Checked our bag with the porter, drove over to the garage and parked, walked into checkin. No wait, checked in and sat down to wait for 5 minutes and started boarding at 10:30. By 10:55 we were on the ship and on our way to Two70 to relax and have lunch.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Food was fantastic. We ate in the MDR 6 of the 7 nights and all of the food was excellent. Beautiful pink prime rib on 2 of the nights and lamb shank and rack of lamb on other nights and on day 6 the MDR served lobster. And on deck 4 in the Royal Esplanade was a favourite spot, the Brass and Bock which is a British pub that offered 7 different heavy hopped IPA. Right beside it was Sorrentos Pizza. Open every day from `11 - 3 AM and they made a very good pizza.
For second breakfast each day my wife and I would head to the Solarium which is the adult only tiered pools at the front of the ship on deck 14. There the Solarium Bistro served up the same breakfast as Windjammers but in a more intimate, less crowded and relaxed atmosphere.
The only downer was that the wait staff in the MDR need to pay more attention to details. On 4 of the 6 nights the person seating us had difficulties finding our table. There is a map and all tables are numbered and these people do this day in and day put. How hard can it be to find a table in a dining room with ordered tale numbers.
The other minor glitch was that on two evenings I had ordered a glass of red zinfandel and my wife an ice tea and on these two nights I was delivered a white zinfandel and my wife was delivered a coke. Needless to say both of these were sent back.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
lots to do from the iFly, to bumper cars, to roller skating, to the flow rider, to ping pong, foozball, basketball, volleyball, rock climbing and the North Star. Participated in a number of these and loved it. Then there are the pools. An entire pool deck with a larger than most outdoor pool with a small wave pool and river pool beside it, an indoor pool as big as the outdoor one with a retractable glass roof and the tiered pools in the adult only Atrium. Add in the Royal Esplanade which is like a trip to the mall and the ship had it all.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
They had a number of shows and smaller entertainers as well as a number of larger shows. We were able to catch 2 of them.
We Will Rock You - a Broadway type show from the UK which in our opinion was hands down the best show that we have seen on any ship at sea. Excellent show with some very powerful voices singing the parts.
We also stared to watch Spectras Cabaret which was a live cabaret styke show in Two70. Two70 is a large open night club style setting with theater seating and a well designed set. The show started quite well and is a sort of multi mixed media live cabaret show meets cirque and all performed by a very very tight dance team. Quite impressive. Unfortunately the show had to be called about a third of the way into it due to rough seas so we did not get to see the entire show.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
The staff and the service was excellent. All very friendly and very helpful. Outstanding.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The ship design is a full 5 stars plus. Best design for a large ship. We never felt crowded even on cold days when no one was out doors. Well spaced with good traffic flow and lots of areas to do things.
The cleanliness was good but they do need to pay a bit more attention to details. In Windjammers which is the buffet and I would usually go there for first breakfast (yes I always had 2) at 7 to nibble and read and generally for lunch I noticed on both day 6 and 7 the when sitting at a window seat the horizontal metal dividers separating the windows had old food and liquid stains from the night before. Obviously the staff was either not paying attention to detail or there are insufficient staff to properly clean the place at night.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
The cabin was wonderful. A front facing oceanview over looking the bow of the ship. There was more closet space than we would ever need and the cabin was spacious. Basically this was the same as a balcony cabin but include the balcony with a sloped ceiling \ wall or it as a part of the cabin. Loved it. We did notice a bit more motion however than with a mid ship balcony.
Ship tip
1) At the very front of the ship in on decks 13 and 14 is the Solarium. It is an adult only glassed in solarium with bar, tiered pools, a huge swing that looks out the front and on the lower level to each side is an outdoor viewing deck above the bridge and these viewing decks offer some of the best views on the ship. Also I would advise to book early (as soon as the booking opens) the North Star and the iFly as these do fill up fast and can be full fast.
Absolutely Awesome. Loved Bermuda. Very clean, no hassles, minimal hawkers trying to sell you things, minimal crime and many beautiful places to see. We took a general tour of the island to get the highlights and covered the island from tip to tip. The public transit is fantastic and you can buy a 1 or 2 day pass or there are always shuttle buses that will take you anywhere or to fixed locations for fixed fees and there are also a number of pickup points where you can always grab a shuttle back to the ship. We took advantage of that the second day in port by taking the shuttle over to Warwick Long Bay and then walking the 1.5 to 2 km back to Horseshoe Bay. This is some of the most beautiful beach and waterfront I have ever seen. We also spent a day walking around the Naval Dockyards and did not see half of it. So much to see and so little time we might need to come back to this beautiful gem.
Disembarkation was fast, efficient and painless. There were no delays and no waiting and customs now using the face recognition machines made the entire process quick and easy.
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