Overall, we loved this boat and sailing out of Galveston. We would sail with Royal again but would choose different ports as these weren't our favorite. The ship itself and staff were top notch.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
This was by far the best embarkation process I've ever had on a cruise. We pre paid to park in the Port of Galveston parking lots next to the boat (south lot). It was close enough to walk, but there was a shuttle service that would take you from the parking lot to the embarkation point. There is also the option to drop of your luggage with a porter, which I highly recommend. There were no lines and we basically walked right on the ship. It was amazing. No waiting in lines in the belly of the boat for over an hour!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
The food and drink were excellent. We didn't do any of the specialty restaurants because we were very happy with the buffet and main dining area. The staff were amazing, and even the buffet staff learned our kids names and preferences, which is amazing on a ship of 5000+ people. My favorite bar was the wine bar. We highly recommend the delux beverage package if you plan on drinking alcohol. It includes coffee beverages and soda as well, and while it seems pricey, it pays for itself if you plan on drinking much at all, even just beer and wine. Buy in advance on the app for the best price.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
My kids (2 and 7) loved the pool area. There's a great splash pad for the littles and a bigger one for the elementary age kids. My 7 yo also loved the big water slides. The ship even has a free carousel! My kids rode it over and over.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The quality of the shows on the ship was impressive. Much more along the lines of a Vegas quality show compared to other cruises I've been on. We saw the ice show, the acrobat show (amazing!) and the 2 musicals, as well as some of the fun game shows. We didn't make it to the comedy club. If you want to make the earlier shows, you need to book in advance on the app to reserve tickets. If you don't get a reservation, they do allow people to line up and allow them entry slowly as seats are available, so lack of a reservation doesn't mean you have to miss, but having the reservation means you get to walk right in and get the best seats.
Children's Programs
3 out of 5
My kids really enjoyed the puppet show but my older daughter didn't enjoy the kids club. I've heard from other people that their kids really enjoyed it though, so it's probably just her preference. She did like the first day she tried, just not the second day. We did not try it for our 2 yo as you had to pay extra for that age group.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Absolutely wonderful staff.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
This was the cleanest ship I've ever been on. They were constantly cleaning and it never looked dirty or unkempt. Even the bathrooms were spotless.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
For an interior cabin this was the best I've seen. We had the king bed configuration and used the pull out couch for the kids. It's small of course, but there seemed to be more room than other cabins I've stayed in. The shower is actually glassed in and surprisingly room compared to other ships I've been on. No shower curtain sticking to you when you try to shower!
Ship tip
If you have a little, I'd highly recommend bringing a light weight stroller. There's a lot of walking on the boat, so it came in handy for ports and just moving around the ship.
There's a beautiful Tiki bar right at the port when you exit the ship with a lazy river type pool. We wished we'd just stayed there. We did a beach excursion to a name I can't remember (the Rockstar one) and it was only OK. It was a private beach, but they didn't have enough sand, and the facilities were very basic and the staff were unhelpful. The area is also very poor, and it was pretty eye opening driving through Roatan to get to the beach club. Not really a vacation destination you would picture.
We got off the boat here, but found that due to high winds, it was a red flag day and were unable to swim. We got immediately back on the ship as there wasn't anything we were interested in right there.
Not as good as the embarkation experience but still better than others I've done. They give you a number with a time slot to leave and tell you to go wait in the Royal Theater. We did that not realizing that almost everyone leaves from the same place and it was packed. If we had known, we could have killed time in the restaurant where we ate breakfast. Also, there weren't any porters available when we got off so we had to haul our luggage to the shuttle. Once there it was fine, but would have been much easier if we had known there were porters if we had waited to flag one down. Bottom line, get a porter. Definitely recommend letting them take your luggage off the boat for you. They allow the option to take it off yourself, but the elevators are packed with people trying to do that, so it's much easier to pick up the luggage when you get off. There were no lines and no waiting to pick up our luggage.
*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.
