Won't be back with royal Caribbean intl. Believed it to be best cruise line and we've experienced many of other big ones (Carnival, MSC, NCL, Celebrity). This ship undelivered, and felt enormous pressure by staff to rate food/wait staff 10/10. Had medical emergency- in part caused by RCI, and RCI did nothing to help resolve issue.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Main dining room was decent. Not great. Ordered spare ribs for example, my serving was almost entirely fat. My mother and husband had wonderful tender meat on theirs. Salt shaker empty 3/9 nights? 2 Pepper shakers (no salt) on 1 night, 3 pats butter in butter dish 1 night. No bread baskets brought to table on another night. Weird for all these experiences to happen.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Olympic gymnast show was pretty bad- unless you want to hear how a 52-year-old competed in Olympics 30 yrs ago.
FloRider experience failed to provide passenger in wheelchair to observe her sister using FloRider, despite there being a wheelchair lift located there (sports supervisor attempted to operate lift and could not get it working, FloRider worker also attempted and could not get lift to work.) Note: FloRider area itself has an incline ramp used by FloRider participants- passenger requested to use ramp to get down to observation area but was refused repeatedly by staff- stating unsafe to do so. Requested staff member to assist passenger, and passenger companion to safely transport wheelchair down available ramp- this request also denied repeatedly.
Pool area always overcrowded without enough pool chairs to accommodate guest- adult pool area had even fewer chairs for guests.
Entertainment
2 out of 5
Musicians were pretty great. Gymnast pretty bad, juggler not great. Ice show decent for size of ship, uptown band super cheesy dance moves/dialog- but music was good.
Children's Programs
Child under age 3
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Room steward, wait staff for our table were great- but working for tips!!! Other wait staff essentially ignore you if you aren't at their table. Entertainment staff seemed a little standoffish - not bad, but not fab.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Seemed over crowded in dining room, over crowded in promenade. Outdated decor through ship - felt tired, not fresh. Material(upholstery on sofa in stateroom torn) found used Almond bag under bed in stateroom (from previous guest)
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Good size, pleasantly surprised. Very dated/tired furnishings. Refrigerator is not a fridge, rather a cooler - which made storage of milk for toddler a little iffy.
Ship tip
Set expectations low, with pressure from "your" staff to rate services (especially food) as high or a 10 out of 10.
Taxi drivers relentlessly pursue you upon leaving port area. Pre-book to avoid being accosted as you walk into town. Stores in town a must of shady/lovely.
I find this review really hard to believe. I have never eaten in MDR and had those issues you outlined. All you did is whine about crowds on the ship, but what did you expect on a ship where nearly everyone will be doing same thing at same time, cause you need to realize that you are sharing that ship with upwards to 4000 other people. My guess is a crew member told you "no" on something you wanted them to do for you and this is where you negative review starts from. It sounds to me that cruising isn't for you and perhaps a land based resort would be better.
*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.
