First cruise on RCI. Would happily go again if the itinerary was right. Impressed by everything except the food. First cruise I've ever been on where I actually lost a few pounds, but we loved the mini golf, balanced pool tables and the piano player at night. The comedian was good, too.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
One long Disney line. Only stopped twice - once for photos, the second time for less than a minute to sit until our row was called. Hands down the best embarkation we've ever experienced.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
The cold food was cold so it was good. The hot food was not - hot, that is - thus it was not good. Very disappointed in most everything, but rather than focus on the negative, there were some suprising worthwhile choices. The cold salads like egg, tuna, chicken were excellent. The green peas top-notch. Oddly the pimento cheese was outstanding and although they called it cheese dip, it was pimento cheese. The yogurts were delicious. Probably the best prepared meal we had all week in the dining room was actually an appetizer and that was the Tomato Soup, which was superb. My wife liked the escargot. They had a good selection of teas & the coffee was better than most cruise lines we've experienced. Odd hours for buffet. Breakfast was the best meal in the main dining room.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
We particularly enjoyed the mini-golf and the rocking pool tables. That was a hoot.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We enjoyed the shows. Our favorite haunt was the pianist who took requests in the Schooner Lounge at night.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
In our interactions with several hundred crew members we noticed two who were having a bad day, so RCI must be treating their employees right. Everyone seemed happy, friendly, courteous & helpful. Very impressive compared to our last sailing on NCL's Encore.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
These should be different categories because they have nothing to do with each other. Cleanliness is a 5, but ship design is 3 or 4 simply because it is so old, having been built in the early 2000s. Liked the promenade deck and the fact they'd open the bow on port days. The narrower beam translated into rockin' & rollin' in even relatively calm waters.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We think this is one of the best cabins on the ship.
Could move here in a heartbeat. Had a great tour guide. Loved returning. They've put handrails on the seawall and I loved the human sundial, which is either new or we missed it last time we were here. Soooo many beautiful flowers.
Almost seamless. The departure time kept changing back & forth on the TV & we missed ours when we had our backs turned to the TV while listening for the announcement with the door open to the hallway.
He’s right about the food, we just got off September 25th. Food was a let dow, Windjammer closed at 8:30 pm, and in the Centrum, on deck 6 by Cafe Lattetude, they are pumping out some disgusting disinfectant or door eliminating vapour to counter the stench of cigarette smoke wafting into the centrum from the casino. Very very perfumed, if you have asthma consider yourself informed.
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