Even though slightly understaffed, Royal Caribbean always delivers on great customer service. The meals were great, the ship was spotless and constantly being cleaned, the employees always worked hard to serve the guests. The Cruise Director, Dan Whitney, was nothing less than amazing. He was always visible at all the shows. He's incredibly witty and has a great memory. He hosted the Love and Marriage event in the main theater and was outstanding.
There were a couple of small hiccups (The Solarium Bistro closed) and the Casino Craps table closed on the non-smoking side. I enjoy playing craps a couple of nights but chose not to this time. It made no sense to me for the craps table to be open in the smoking area, but not non-smoking. I understand that staff shortages were the concern. I talked to the casino management and suggested they were losing customers who did not wish to venture in the smoking area questioned why they couldn't move over to the non-smoking side and retain all of the Craps playing customers. They actually liked that idea and said that they would consider changing over the next Cruise. I am a non-smoker and have no interest in going into a smoke-filled room. I was not the only Craps player who felt this way. I still question why smoking is allowed in any part of the Casino as smoke drifts over to the other area.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was very efficient and easy. Be certain to have all of your documents including covid related items printed in your hands or pulled up on your phone. From our car to the Promenade deck was 15 minutes.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Good news about the main dining room menu. Since our last Cruise in September on the Ovation, RC has tweaked the meal offerings slightly. I was very happy to see the changes. Quite simply said, there are more new options available for appetizers, entrees, and desserts. The "classic" menu options are still listed.
Unfortunately, the Solarium Bistro was not open the entire cruise. This is understandable since Royal Caribbean is still trying to restore staffing to the crew. Captain Johnny stated during a question and answer session, that typically Royal Caribbean has 48,000 employees on ships. Currently they are serving with 36,000 and still trying to hire.
The buffet was good as usual. Staff members are still serving Guests. There is no buffet option in the main dining room as before.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Our cabin, starboard side forward, was excellent. In this location, there was only marginal traffic back and forth and we had excellent views for balcony time.
Ship tip
Download the Royal app well before your trip. As soon as you are on board, use the app to make reservations for shows etc. I felt the new app was outstanding and very easy to use.
Staffing numbers are down slightly which I feel is somewhat stressful for the workers. They all were tremendously positive and helpful, but I feel many were overworked. Our state room attendant had 19 rooms assigned. Typically they usually have about 15.
We decided to do a tour rather than beach time. We did an Island tour including Marigot. There is a lot of devastation from the hurricane, so the island is still trying to recover. We came off the bus twice for scenic photo opportunities. Then we stopped for about 30 minutes in Marigot. There was not much activity there. Some of the shops were closed and the shopping area was under tents. Given the option again, we would probably go back to one of the beaches.
The excursion we booked 6 months earlier was canceled at 7:00 p.m. the night before docking at the Saint Thomas. What a huge bummer! The remaining offerings were not available or somewhat restricted. We were offered the opportunity to go to Secret Sands Beach. Several of the guests who joined us also had excursions that were canceled. After a 45 minute ride, we arrived at Secret Sands. The location was beautiful with very good scenery and clearwater. It was a bit windy however, which made swimming a little difficult. Lounge chairs, snorkeling gear, and drinks were provided. Changing area, showers, and restrooms were nearby. The area was very clean and private.
We really enjoyed Coco Cay again. Although we had two large ships in port, the Harmony and the Independence, the island is so spread out it never really felt crowded. The lines to obtain meals were fairly short and the food was very good.
I wish I were still about 25 years old rather than 70. I would have loved to have done all the water activities and slides in Thrill Waterpark.
There are multiple swimming areas available including the beaches, Oasis Lagoon "freshwater", and Harbor Beach.
Trams are available for transportation around the island if needed.
We did not choose an excursion this trip, however 2 years ago we did the Swimming with the pigs. That was a lot of fun and very unique!
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