Very nice southern caribbean 10 day cruise with substitute ports after the 2017 hurricanes. We enjoyed seeing Martinique for the first time. We went to Balata gardens on a ship excursion. We highly recommend it if you like gardens. The weather in late Nov was perfect (minus rain in Barbados). Very good food and headliners on this trip. Rate this cruise high on our list of cruises taken. Prefer taking the ten day cruise out of Ft Lauderdale over traveling to San Juan for a 7 day cruise to the same ports.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Used Park N Go which was quick to get us from car to port. Entry through security went smoothly and onto the ship in short order. Arrived at Park N Go at 10:30am and was onboard by 11am.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Main dining room meals were pretty good this trip. Better than some cruises. Did first night done right in chops which was a good value with no upcharge for chops.
Chop's Grille
5 out of 5
Food and service in Chops lived up to expectations.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Spent most time in the solarium. The pool water here is salt water. This was not a detraction. Water temperature made it easy to get in but still refreshing enough to stay in. We like the food at the solarium park cafe. One of the few Royal ships to provide potato chips for lunches. I know Oasis class does also.
We used the billiard tables a few times which also is not available on most Royal ships. We played a couple times on the putt putt course.
If you liked trivia there seemed to be a heavy dose of it on this ship in the schooner bar.
We saw free exercise classes on the pool deck but did not participate.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
The orchestra was top notch as are most of them across the fleet. We wish they would be featured at least one night during the cruise. Instead the got to play one full song on the last night. It was fantastic though.
The headliners booked on this cruise were all very good. The production number performances were underwhelming this time. We chose not to go twice after seeing the first show.
The schooner bar nightly piano player was very entertaining beyond just playing and singing.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Standard room steward service. Above average dining service and very decent bar service throughout the ship.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
We like the wind jammer outside dining. We also like the Safari lounge at the back of the ship for the panaramic view but are dissapointed it is under utilized. This would make a great space for evening diamond lounge use. Speaking of which, the diamond lounge was always crowded and they would not open the door for easy overflow access to the vortex lounge. Many guests were vocal about this choice to no avail.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Hump cabin with easy access to the centrum elevators and stairs. Everything was good condition with no maintenance issues this cruise. No noise bleed from the centrum.
Ship tip
Enjoy the advantages of the smaller size ships, relax and have fun cruising.
We spent the day at Magens Bay. They were still planting new trees after hurricane Irma but the beach was in good shape. We took a taxi (van) for $10 a person one way. There was a beach vendor for chairs and umbrellas but we ended up passing this up based on their pricing. They wanted $45 and said they would return $20 at the end (like a deposit). Then we saw you'd have too drag the chairs yourself. Not at all the same as every other beach experience we've had.
Spent the day at Ciboney Beach resort on Dickenson Bay. $6 per person taxi, one way and $20 for chairs and umbrella. Great spot for spending some time on the beach and in the water.
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