Ritz-Carlton in Name Only by wcsorcha
Sail date: / Traveled as: CoupleShip: Evrima
We are well-seasoned cruisers and spent 10 days on the Evrima for a Mediterranean cruise. We were in an entry level suite. While there are some good qualities, it’s not a ship we would sail again. The Good The customer-facing crew are good and a few of them are at the level of a Ritz Carlton hotel. Turns out those had previously worked at a Ritz property in their past. More on that later. The suite bathroom was excellent and spacious. They even have heated floors. Elevators are prompt and fast, probably the best in the industry. Hot food was generally served properly on warm plates. Room temp was easy to modify which is hard to get right on a ship. Outstanding Tender Operations—best I’ve seen. Safe and clearly experienced drivers and crew. Prompt and on schedule. We rarely waited for a shuttle as they kept several in operation at a time. We spent a lot of time talking with the crew and officers and they were very forthcoming with information. I applaud them for their insights. The Not so Good The Ship It’s a bit of a design mess. Turns out that three different shipyards were involved in the build as the Venture Capital company (VCC) [the real owners of the line] tried to complete the ship during the pandemic. We had an excellent conversation with the Captain where he detailed the history of the ship and their plan to fix the problems during dry dock in 2026. At least the investors want to try to fix this ship. Nearly every door, to include the suite door, are pretty but weigh a ton and are not counter-balanced. The don’t have an intuitive design and we saw many pushing, then pulling to get them opened. We started referring to our suite as “Vault 804” as the doors are so heavy. All the chairs in the dining venues weigh 800 pounds—seriously they are pretty, comfortable, but far, far too heavy. The staff smile, but are clearly frustrated by them. Meals start off poorly when you have to struggle with your chair just to sit down. Service/Staff The welcome card in our room on embarkation day was printed upside down. Literally the Ritz Logo was upside down. This was the first clue that this was not going to be a true Ritz experience. The staff with actual Ritz experience have your name down within hours. The rest of the staff figure it out after a couple of days. That said, the restaurants are driven by an iPad system that clearly frustrates the staff. While they usually remember your name, you’ll have to give them your suite number for pretty much any transaction. The technology apparently forces them to ask you “Do you have food allergies?” every single time. On the 3rd day, I said no more to that and they stopped asking. Laundry costs are exorbitant even for a cruise ship. Laundering a polo shirt was $20. In talking with the Ritz experienced crew members, it turns out they are moving to the new ship this Fall. I think the investors are trying to make the next ship up to standards with that decision. Food The galley’s are inconsistent in their quality. Initially, I thought the food was inconsistent because the galley crews rotated, but no, they generally don’t move galleys. The Pool House if fine for breakfast with a nice view and consistent, though limited, menu. Other meals there were hit or miss. We began referring to it as “The House of Mediocrity.” Talaat Nam was disappointing in that the food was inconsistent though there were the occasional interesting menu items. Honestly, the quality of the Sashimi is what I’d expect from a conveyor belt. So disappointing. Mistral was also hit or miss but had the best view for dining. Unfortunately the design was incompatible with rain, so when it rained, this restaurant was closed. No rebooking, you had to handle that on your own. Ritz-Carlton huh? Only the Evrima Room (think main dining room) was consistently up to standard. We even had a couple of outstanding meals there. Toward the end of the cruise, we gave up on the other venues and dined only in the Evrima Room. Some items on the bar menus are not available. Provisioning problems was the answer. The right answer is reprinting the menus as they have a printing plant aboard. Ritz huh? S.E.A Experience This galley has a dedicated Chef, and three dedicated Sous Chefs. Excellent interior with distinct and beautiful dishware. This restaurant was staffed with the regular staff in better uniforms, but its the same people you’ve seen in the other venues. They clearly tried to up their game for working this restaurant. Presentation was (as expected) outstanding. Unfortunately, as we saw in other dining venues, if a protein was involved there was a good chance it would be tasteless. This galley worked really hard with what they were provided, but many of our plates were cleared half-eaten. This prompted the Chef to come talk to us. This was an outstanding and insightful full 10 minutes with the Chef—it really made the experience. He explained the operation and said that the provisioners are “just not getting them the best as they’re not used to dealing with Ritz Ships.” Relationships are critical in logistics and money talks. This line has been in operation for 18 months. It’s not a provisioner problem, it’s a cost-saving decision. Room Are you really part of the Bonvoy/Marriott Family if there is not a Book of Mormon in the room? That has been true for every single property—around the world—that we’re been. Not here. Again suggests Ritz has little to nothing to do with these ships. Several items in the suite have been deactivated because they just don’t work. Curtain controls by the bed—deactivated. Some unmarked switches—deactivated. The normal slot to insert your room key to activate the room gave so many problems they have permanently mounted a key there to keep the room “on” the entire time. The soundproofing is sub-par especially in the room from other balconies. Our neighbors were not overly load, but I could have recorded a neighbors credit card number as he phoned in an order to shore and I know what the other neighbor sounds like when she’s “on top.” I don’t like wearing earplugs to sleep. Entertainment I was really impressed with the quality of the entertainment on board and it far exceeded my expectations. They brought on several entertainers between ports to included an opera singer who was just outstanding. There was a band and/or a DJ for dancing every night. Tours Private cars and drivers are the first to get booked on the website. And there are very few of them. That leaves a group tour or two. Our first tour was for a wine tasting. Wine glasses were never changed and it seemed like a pick-up game. The bus driver side swiped (and left) a car on the way back to the port. We canceled our remaining tours. Recommend booking your own tours—those that did that had a better experience at a better value. Recommendation The passenger count was ~80% capacity. Most ships are traveling nearly full these days. I don’t think there is a single “Ritz-Carlton” employee on the entire ship. This is not the ship to travel on for a Ritz-like experience. Maybe the next ship will be better.