This is our 7th cruise and definitely the most disappointing. It wasn’t bad, just the others were considerably better. We have cruised on three different cruise lines all superior to Royal Caribbean. As mentioned there were only two electrical outlets in our cabin and the bathroom shelf fell down twice due to poor design. What was most disappointing was there was no real wine packages offered. On all the other cruise lines you could purchase 5-7 bottles of wine at various price levels starting at $120. Royal Caribbean offer 3 bottles of $10.00 wine for $117.00 or 5 for $250.00. No substitutions allowed! My $14.00 Old Fashioned was watered down and our server reeked of body odor. None of the bar staff would I rate as friendly. The entertainment at night was marginal compared to other cruises. Our $50.00 specialty dinner was marginal at best. To add insult to injury the disembarkation was painful. After spending about 30 minutes writing my review I see is giving my overall rating a 4.2. No way. I’d rate this cruise a 3. I can’t say I’ll never cruise with Royal Caribbean again but it certainly won’t be my first choice.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Super smooth and fast!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
The food in the main dining room, buffet, and Park Café were all good to very good with a few items being excellent. The $50.00 diner in Chops was very disappointing. Brown lettuce in the Caesar Salad, Crab Cake the quality of something you would expect from a food truck, and the Ribeye was very good but I can cook a better one in my backyard. All the other cruises that I have been on have offered a wine package starting at around $120.00 for 5 bottles and go up based on quality. Royal Caribbean had a 3 bottle package of $10.00 wines for $117.00 including tip or $250.00 for 5 bottles. No flexibility is what wines you picked either. Shame on you Royal Caribbean! The $14.00 Old Fashioned I had at the lounge tasted watered down and was served by a waiter with major body odor. The staff in the main dining room were sensational and made up for a lot of other shortcoming on board.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
They need to either enforce the no saving chairs policy around the pool or eliminate it. Most of the time about 1/4 of all chairs had towels on them but no people. Very frustrating trying to find a place to sit.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Entertainment was good but didn't compare to the quality that I've experienced on other cruise lines.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
With the exception of the bartenders all the staff was tremendous. Bartenders were okay. Our dining room staff was the best I have experienced on any cruise line. Thank you Roy and company!
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Great layout! No issues.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
There were only 2 electrical outlets in the cabin. The shelf in the bathroom fell off twice because of a poor design. If not for those two issues I would have given my cabin a 5 star.
Ship tip
If you haven't already booked find another cruise line. If you have booked beware of way overpriced drinks.
Great Island though they are still cleaning up from a hurricane. We went scuba diving at Coki Dive Center, a Priceline excursion. I highly recommend Coki, they are amazing!
Disembarkation was slow and disorganized. If they weren't calling 5 groups at a time it would have been much smoother. We purchased the prepaid bus back to the airport. Virtually no signs until we finally found the bus and they erroneously had the wrong airport listed. Waited a very long time before the bus left. You are better off both time and money wise taking a cab back.
My wife and I have tried several different cruise lines, trying to find our fav.
What's your best cruise line and do you feel experiences vary from ship to ship with the same cruise line??
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