Doug Maxwell

This was our first cruise and I must admit I was more than a little apprehensive. I read all the reviews I could find online and many people seemed to give this ship and cruise a bad rap. Our experience was nothing short of wonderful! We had no problems with boarding and were in our suite in 45 minutes from parking our car. Our luggage arrived shortly after 1:00 and we were unpacked and settled in no time. Our suite attendant, Dyksen, was always close by to see to any needs we may have had. He kept our suite in great shape all through the cruise. We were in a junior suite and it was very roomy. My bro-in-law, his wife, and 2 kids also were on this cruise and had a regular stateroom. They were packed like sardines. It is definitely worth the extra money to get the suite.

Some people wrote that the ship was old and in foul shape and had a bad odor. Though this was our first cruise, we thought the ship was in great shape. A little wear on a carpet here and there, but no more than in a nice hotel at any popular beach destination. The only bad odor I smelled came from Nassau harbor.

The food was as many said in the Windjammer café. It was a buffet and comparable to a Ryans or Shoneys. It was good but nothing spectacular….just like any other buffet. The food was always hot and plenty of it and you get in and out quickly so all in all I give it good marks.

The main dining room was excellent! The food was great and our waiter, Terence , was both efficient and entertaining. He really made each meal an adventure in dining. His assistant , Norberto , never let a glass stay empty and was always on the spot without hovering.

The only bad part of our trip happened at Coco Cay. We signed up for the early parasailing and our guide must have been new. We came back in 3 times because of equipment problems and on the third time he said anyone that wanted a refund would get it….the whole boat(12 of us) took it. BUT….to make up for it they gave us all the 1 hour waverunner tour for free. This was a more expensive excursion so I thought they more than made up for the parasail (which I really wasn’t keen about anyway). Coco Cay is a beautiful place and has anything you want from the adventurous to just relaxing in a hammock. 2 thumbs up!!

Nassau was a little letdown but I’m not a shopper . The constant attacks by the vendors REALLY got on my nerves but the wife loved haggling over prices and really got some good bargains. We took the glass-bottom boat tour and that was fun. We saw a lot of beautiful coral reefs and many different fish plus it was not so long that it seemed to take up a lot of your day. We took a cab over to Atlantis and it is really a spectacular place. You would probably do as well to go on your own as we did since we saw the aquarium and didn’t have to pay for it. We took the champagne sailaway that night and it was nice and romantic, but the boat never sailed, it just motored around the marina and harbor.

The shows we saw were first-rate and the casino was awesome! Not much more to say.

Debarkation when we returned was super fast. Since we were in a suite we were the first group called, unless you wanted to carry everything off the ship yourself. Total time from gangplank to my car was 30 minutes.

All in all , I would highly recommend this cruise and ship. We were treated like royalty from start to finish and will definitely sail with Royal Caribbean again…SOON!