The ship is nice, staterooms adequate, food OK. They have quality entertainment, and the cruise director staff was very good. There were lots of excess charges such as $1.95 for fresh OJ at breakfast, automatic 15% tip on every already overpriced drink brought (including the soft drink and wine packages) and extra for truly good food in the specialty restaurants. This was my first cruise, but a lot of long time cruisers were grumbling a lot as well, many saying this would be their last RC cruise. When asked, most much preferred the Carnival, Princess and Disney experience to this particular RC boat.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Not much wow factor in the main dining room. The food was pretty good and the selection was OK.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Singers were amazing. Special guests were good and lounge acts were OK as well.
Children's Programs
3 out of 5
At least in the winter, I do not recommend this cruise for people traveling with kids. Likely due to the time of the year and the length of the cruise there are not many kids on the boat. The programs are in place and solid, (better for the little ones than the teens). We were lucky to be traveling with a large group and had 23 kids with us(nearly half the kids onboard), so it worked out OK. Had we not been there, the other kids would have been pretty bored I imagine.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
Individuals were great, but overall, many on the ship were blah. Guest relations were pretty poor. Lots of shrugging the shoulders and a fair amount of blatant rudeness was directed at my wife when she went to try and resolve a problem.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
Booked late, but the inside stateroom was actually bigger than I expected. Showers were so/so, but it is a boat after all.
In Alexandria, see the catacombs for sure. I do not recommend doing Alexandria or Cairo on your own. The ship excursion was overpriced and hectic with a jillion people being herded about. We did a private tour with a great guy named Hosny Abu Klia (abuklila@hotmail.com). We paid half the cruise rate for a much better experience.
Valetta is pretty, but small. We did not plan anything outside town so got bored pretty fast. It was only a 6 hour stop. Friends went on a boat trip to the Blue Grotto and recommended it.
Old town is cool, but touristy. We rented a car and drove 45 minutes to the acropolis at Lindos. Very worth it. Had a beach stop nearby so the kids could splash.
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