It was our first time with Royal Caribbean. We definitely enjoyed it and would do it again but I did leave with the feeling that I thought it would have been more wow. I can’t quite put my finger on what it was that I expected to be wow but I haven’t come home totally singing their praises which I expected to do! There are tonnes of positives and on the whole they are very good and if a good deal came up I’d book with them again but I’m most definitely not “loyal to royal”
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Couldn’t ask for better. Checked in on the app, turned up, dropped cases off at the drop off point, a lady with an iPad scanned us in and we got on! No messing about, no long waits. Really really good.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Buffet was really good, nice selection of foods and plenty variety. MDR was a bit hit and miss. We’re not particularly fussy eaters but there were times when there would only be one thing on the menu that I fancied eating. On other cruises I’ve not been able to make up my mind, I liked a few of the choices but definitely didn’t feel that this time. One evening I didn’t actually like what I had and it was only a shepherds pie but didn’t enjoy it. Other than that though, the food was decent. We paid for Johnny rockets a couple of times as the kids liked it and we really enjoyed that. It’s a set cover charge but you can have as much as you like and the food was great. The Ale & Anchor and also Schooners Bar are great bars but not always easy to get a seat in. Ended up in Playmakers a bit of the time as it was the only bar with free seats but it wouldn’t have been my first choice. Boleros always looked great with the live band on and the dance floor but again, not very big and we never ever managed to get a seat there!
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
We didn’t have great weather so there were several days of not being able to use any of the outside activities. Not anybody’s fault but it did mean that everyone was doing indoors things and as a result venues would be too full and unless you went 45-60 minutes early you wouldn’t get a seat. And if it was too full I found that there then wasn’t anything else of interest to do so would have to make our own entertainment, playing cards or something of that sort.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Didn’t manage to see any of the ice performances because the queues to get in were just crazy, over an hour before the start time people were queueing up. Grease was very good. Some of the other evening shows looked pants so we didn’t bother with and heard afterwards from other people they hadn’t been great so we didn’t miss much. Truth be told I expected more from Royal Caribbean in terms of big shows, but it didn’t live up to the hype.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Their staff are amazing. Always so nice and helpful and polite. I’d say it’s the best thing about this ship was it’s staff. I don’t think they had enough staff on in the bars, they were always very busy so made service slow but they never seemed overworked and always smiled.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Nice comfortable bed, slept great every night. Room and bathroom spotlessly clean. Cabins are dated though. The company is needing to spend a bit of money on them for sure. There were strange curtains at the foot of the bed that don’t close fully. Not sure the purpose of them but they made me chuckle.
Ship tip
If there’s a quiz or a talk or a show you really want to see, plan your day early and get there as early as you can or you may end up not getting in.
We hired cars ourselves and drove to Siam Park with the kids. This is the second time we’ve done it on a cruise and it’s so good. Only gripe is Royal Caribbean don’t spend long enough in this port in comparison to other cruise lines so we didn’t get enough time at the park. It’s a 45 minute drive down the coast to get to it. Hardest part is navigating out of the port!
We walked off the ship and found a shop that hired out e-bikes. They gave us a map and we did our own cycle it was brilliant. Not many people speak English here but I quite like that!
As stress free as embarkation! Really flawless set up, you were allocated a time to disembark, you go to the meet point, get off and go through to where all the cases are ready and waiting.
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