This was meant to be a trip of a lifetime. It both lived up to that and failed to meet the expectations. The sites were fascinating. The crew was fantastic. However, I do feel that Royal failed us. We were not given important information about closings (specialty restaurants, the solarium). The staff was overwhelmed with unattended children and gave up trying to enforce any kind of decorum. It felt as though there were no expectations in place to be followed and enforced.
Embarkation
1 out of 5
The luggage drop area was unorganized, with long lines and poor signage. It was unclear what to do.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
The food looked better than it tasted. The entrees were dried out and overcooked. Some were just terrible.
The specialty restaurants were closed unless you were part of a group of Jewish travelers. They were turned into kosher restaurants. We enjoy an evening at Chops, but that was not an option this trip and we were not informed of this change ahead of time.
The highlights were the staff. The waitstaff was good and the bar staff was better. They made the trip better.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
The pool was fine in the solarium. Very salty. The hot tubs were lukewarm and did not bubble.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
The acts they brought on were good. They had a nice variety. The ships shows were meh. They seem to think the audience is much older than it is (I am 55 & the entertainment consistently had things that would appeal to my grandparents & perhaps parents). The shows need to be more modern and need better costuming.
Children's Programs
No children sailed with us
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
The staff was top notch. They were the saving grace for this cruise. We are Diamond members, so it isn't our first sailing. I don't think I have unreasonable expectations. I can absolutely say that the crew met them.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
The ship is old and it shows. The maintenance needs some work. The Ben & Jerry's kiosk couldn't sell ice cream because it was too melted. The dining room and soft serve machines always had mushy ice cream. Our cabin a/c never quite cooled the room enough.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
The a/c was unable to keep the room cool. The door stuck so you had to shove it to get in. The shower had a curtain with a dirty hem. On the plus side, the room had great storage and was spacious. The balcony was nice once we had the broken deck chair replaced. It had both a bistro set and two loungers. It wrapped around the corner.
Ship tip
I don't recommend sailing out of Haifa. The port is chaotic. The sailing was geared toward a particular group of travelers (although it was not advertised in the States as such) and if you didn't fall within that group, your options were limited.
There were not too many options available here. We chose to book an excursion on our own on St. Georgio's Boat. It was a nice day. Even got to swim with the turtles!
I greatly enjoyed the visit to the Ceramics factory. Beautiful work. The ruins were interesting & the beach break was nice. We had a quick bite to eat in town that was quite tasty to top off the day.
We were scheduled for a boat tour that was canceled at the last minute due to weather. We were able to find a different one that was fine, but not what we originally planned, We hiked the caldera; swam in the 'hot' springs (warm and sulphur rich); stopped at a smaller island for lunch. It was a pleasant day.
The problem is that I really wanted to go to Fira and on to Oia. We didn't have time before our boat left from the bottom of the road, so we thought we would go after- we had hours. However, our boat returned at the same time as a large Norwegian ship arrived and the lines for the cable car were very long. We decided to go back to the ship, get cleaned up and return- hoping the lines might be down by then. Nope. They were worse! Another ship had docked and the line extended down the entire street. It had to be hours long. We did the calculation, and even if we made it up, we would never have time to see anything and fight the crowds to get back down on time. A huge disappointment. They need to figure out a way to increase the number of people that they move up the side of the cliff or restrict the number of people in port at one time.
This may have been my favorite stop. The people are so friendly. The shopping was fun. It was interesting to learn about the art of the Turkish carpets. We also saw Ephesus.
We did the Ultimate Athens tour after our hop on, hop off was canceled. It was nice not to have to wait in line at the Acropolis. More time there would have been good. The lunch was okay. This tour was decent, but very pricey. Not sure the value was really there.
We used the ship transfer for the first time. It went smoothly. The distance from the ship, luggage, passport control, etc. was more tolerable early in the morning as it wasn't so hot.
In Santorini you can just walk down. A lot of people that are able to walk are waiting in the line for the cable. The stairs are not bad. It will take you only 20-25min and the views are amazing.
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