Not up to the hype

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 80

Review summary

While this is a beautiful ship, and the evening Entertainment was stellar, the cruise fell short in the main things cruising used to excel at. The food simply did not measure up to other cruise lines. We chose 6pm every evening with a table for two in the main dining room. So we were consistent. While we understand that to serve 3,000 people ( the ship could handle 4,000 guests, so we were a 1,000 short on a transAtlantic) is a formidable task, the choice was poor, the food was consistently cold in the main dining room, the breakfast and lunch buffets were boring and held way too much pork. Breakfast in the dining room was 45 minutes for one fried egg. Lunch in the dining room was the same choice every day. Desserts had a distinct taste of artifical sweeteners. It was as if everything had been dropped to the lowest common denominator for taste. We have crossed the Atlantic four times, we've cruised Europe and Carribean and generally find it to be gracious and relaxing. This time we felt as if every opportunity was taken to offer us something else to pad the final bill. Too many photographers all week long, even in the dining room. What woman wants to be told to smile, when she is in the middle of dinner and her lipstick is wearing off? Orange juice. $3.50? Come on. Wines I can pay $12 a bottle for at home, come in at $40? I don't think so. " Courtesy buses " to town at $12 per person when a cab for two will cost $7? Judging from the lines at cutomer service starting on the 2nd day out of a 12 day cruise trying to get the wi-fi to work and more lines at the Crown and Anchor desk trying to get the onboard credit straightened out, I would suggest Royal Carribbean spend less time telling us what great service they have and more time actually delivering great service. We didn't even see our room steward until the second day out. Maybe the large ships are intended for diverse family gatherings of different ages. I can see that it would be easy to keep teenagers entertained here. But at $2 a game, expect the final charges to be sky high! And watch those cupcake charges. $1.50 for a one bite cupcake. All in all, we couldn't wait to get off the ship, when usually we don't want to leave. We did get off two days early with many other people in Cadiz. We informed guest relations on our second day and still we were not cleared until 11am. Could they not have informed Spanish immigration by e:mail how many people were coming in? Some people missed their 11:30 trains to Seville. Luckily we were driving. I will be thinking long and hard about using Royal Carribean in the future. As a final note, it's more than just the price. It's the overall experience. If it's the first time for you cruising, it just might be the " adventure you're looking for". If you're experienced, it's the value. Right now, you've got some work to do.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Children's Programs

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

Lisbon, Portugal

Cadiz (Seville), Spain Did not visit port

Barcelona, Spain Did not visit port

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