Just wish things were a little bit cheaper on the ship, and more time was spent at Cayman. We signed up and paid for the breakfast with characters, and the guacamole making class with tequila tasting but we ended up not attending either. A waste of money should not of signed up for it. We also did bingo for a cruise last day at sea. We were so close to winning too. The kids enjoyed that
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Set sail earlier than expected. The muster drill went much smoother this time compared to my first cruise in 2005 on a similar RCL ship. Seapass cards were scanned electronically at each station and we didn't have to wait an hour like last time for the stragglers. Sat with a fellow cruiser in their Loyalty section and boarded early with them. Got to the cruise terminal early and there were no lines. Went through x-ray and security immediately
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
The Rembrandt dining room is where our My Time dinners were every night. Charles and Shan at table 343 were amazing. Our original waiter and assistant waiter by the window the first night were horrible. Lack of communication, kept getting things wrong, not friendly, they spilled water on a tables chair next to us not cleaning up only to see a young girl in a nice dress sit in it and get wet. We changed waiters second night and we were more than pleased. We did not do any specialty dining. Windjammer breakfast and lunch buffets were great
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Pools, slides, tidal wave, ping pong, arcade. Hard to get the kids to do anything else. Movie night out at the pool was excellent every night
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The ice show performance was amazing. Didn't quite care for the family oriented comedy show. That was family oriented one. I am curious to see what the adult only one later that night was like. Several people and families got up and left. A few nights on the promenade they had the character parade and the disco party... Those were fun. however on the disco party there were grown adults stealing the thrown items from performers that were meant for kids, even taking them from kids at times. Disappointed that that their behavior
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
They never went to the kids club but they frequented the arcade, the kids pool, they also signed up for the cupcake decorating class. The all access tour of the ship was excellent as well
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Headwaiter Charles and assistant waiter Shan (table 343 in Rembrandt), and room steward Stephen on 7th deck were amazing. asked Stephen if he was getting off the ship at any port and he did in Jamaica since that's where he's from. I asked if he wanted anything from Cozumel or Cayman when we got off and he asked for a Cayman beach towel. More than happy to bring that back for him. Gave all three of them an extra $20 cash tip the final night on board.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Even though it's a large ship, the layout and maps were easy to follow. Did not take more than a second if we were disoriented and needed to find a place. Just look at the marquee by the elevators and we knew exactly where we needed to go
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Size was perfect for me and my 10-year-old daughter. I upgraded for a balcony because I knew she may not want to be out on the ship the entire time and might want to sit on the balcony and see the water since it was her first time on a cruise and on the water. The bed was very comfortable and amazing. Wish my bed at home was like that.
Ship tip
Even though it was a closed loop cruise, I highly recommend bringing your passport and passport cards. We kept a photo copy of the passport with us at all times when we exited at each port, left the passports locked up in the room safe. I would probably of brought more hangers to put up clothes in the closet. I would roll our clothes next time instead of laying them flat in the luggage. Highly recommend bringing a package of water and putting your room luggage tag on it and tip the luggage man five dollars when you drop your stuff off at the terminal. Got to our room no problem, even though they said no food or water brought onboard. Be sure to bring a pen and a highlighter, they come in handy every day with your Compass to see what things you wanted to do during the next day. Check out the NextCruise office to book another cruise at a discount. We did that for spring break in March 2018 and was cheaper than my travel agent since I emailed her at the same time. Also received $300 in onboard credits to use at that time.
This was our departure and return port. It was 3 1/2 - 4 hours from our home in Corpus Christi, Texas. Easy to find. Highly recommend the cruisepark.com for your parking. Very limited number of spaces.
We did the dolphin encounter and swim. Got our pictures and video of it. Wish the video and quoted the parts of just us or at least included us. The video did not show any of the dolphin rides with myself or my daughter only the photos did. A little bit high-priced though. It included a lunch buffet. Would rather do Chankanaab park next time. After our excursion we took a cab to Mr. Sancho's Beach for the rest of the afternoon
Always my favorite port, but so little time at this location. We did the land and sea tour which included going to the town of Hell, stopping at a few stores to sample rum cakes and the rum, went to the turtle farm, and stingray city. Did get some free pearl bracelets at a jewelry store near the port after our excursion was over. The tender line returning to the ship was very long and time-consuming. I bought a bottle of rum duty-free at one of the businesses and they said they deliver it to the ship. When I got it the night before it was in my room in a box with the receipt taped to the outside. I didn't open the box until I got home and when I did, it was the wrong flavored rum. The one I wanted in the one that was shown on the receipt I received in the store and taped to the box where the correct one although the actual rum inside was wrong
Everything in the form of excursions is pretty much an hour away by drive. That unfortunately ate up a lot of time. When we did get back to the port from our excursion my daughter and I paid a pretty hefty taxi ride about five minutes away to a public beach. But it included round-trip and he was there waiting for us when we were ready to head back to the cruise terminal. The locals at the beach and kids were very friendly as well as the two were guide. We did the mud buggy rides , was pretty messy and it stained our clothes. But it's something my ten year old daughter wanted to do and we had a blast.
On my first cruise in 2005, we did the normal departure of setting our luggage outside the night before and waiting for our number to be called. It took 3 to 4 hours to get off the ship during that process. This time we did self disembark. we met downstairs at the dining room and walked off immediately. Went through customs and got out within two minutes. Highly recommend that as the only way to go. However you're responsible for bringing your luggage with you. Just myself and my 10-year-old daughter we had three cases of luggage and a backpack. But would not have done it any other way
I did not sign up for any extra dining it was events on the ship. I did the character breakfast because it is only $10 figured my daughter would like it, but she preferred the Windjammer breakfast buffet. $20 didn't break the bank. The avocado one I was doing for me with the tequila tasting but she didn't want to do it and they were having too much fun at the pool so we just skipped it
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