Royal Caribbean International, RCL
Sovereign of the Seas
Bahamas

Cyndi M.

Age: 39
Occupation: housewife
Number of Cruises: 3
Sailing Date: October 28th, 2005

I am always amazed at the effiency of Port Canaveral at getting people on the ships. They did a great job again. We got to the port at 10:30am, were checked in and had our seapass cards by 10:50. We waited in line until 11:15 until the allowed people to board. We got on the ship by 11:20. They told us our rooms would not be ready until 1:30 but we were in the room by 12:00. The last cruise I almost had a panic attack during the muster drill because so many people were squashed back into me. This time me and my sister told them we were claustrophobic and they were really sweet about it. They put us in front with no one right on top of us. Drill was very quick and efferent. Very well organized!

Staff: All the staff were very friendly and very efficient. I tipped the room steward $20 when we boarded and told him there were 8 traveling and to keep an eye on all of us. He did an exceptional job. It was my 40th birthday party and I jokingly told him I wanted a lovebird towel animal. He made a bird out of 5 pillows that night. I was impressed. I would rank our dining staff as good but not great. A couple of times asst. waiter got a little snappy but the head waiter went WAY over and above for us. I joked with him when he did his introduction and he remembered my name and spoke to me by name any time he saw me around the ship. I asked for creme brulee' for my birthday dish and he tried! It wasn't really creme brulee but it was a nice attempt. Guest services (formally pursers desk) was very friendly, quick and attentive. When we did not make it into Cocay the excursion money was added back to our account Very timely so you would have time to re-spend it if you chose.

The ship........I could definitely tell it was an older ship but the refurbish was nice. The public bathrooms looked like outhouses to me some of the other areas were just not up to the standards of the newer ships.

One big difference I noticed in going on an older ship is most of the crew were brand new ( I mean GREEN) They were inexperienced and trying to learn the ropes. There were times when it showed.

Cleanliness........ In this area I was a little nervous. Although the pool staff was diligent in keeping thing picked up I did not see them cleaning rails, walls etc. like I did on our last Carnival cruise. The public bathrooms were downright NASTY and I was constantly carrying around hand sanitizer cleaning my hands. The ship had designated smoking/non smoking areas and even the disco lounge was like this. I was SO happy about this since I am really bad allergic to smoke. It made going out at night really enjoyable.

Shows & Entertainment.........This is one area the inexperience definitely showed. One of the singers was constantly going flat (musically) and it was like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. The dancers were good though and most of the shows were what I would rank as good. The love and Marriage and the Quest were absolutely Hilarious and I recommend you definitely NOT miss these on your next cruise. I laughed until I cried. There did not seem to be as many activities offered as on our last Carnival cruise but they did a fair job keeping everyone busy.

Drinks and Food.......Drinks were great and they definitely did not spare the liqour. They made sure if you wanted a buzz you got it! I was not greatly amazed at the food. It had been a while since we had cruised RC and everyone kept saying there food was so much better than Carnival. I did not find that to be the case and Carnival's desserts and selection was better. The windjammer served the exact same thing every day for lunch with very little variation and I was a little surprised by this. (We did enjoy Johnny Rockets one day and it was good but the service was incredibly slow)

Port of call and Excursions.......
Nassau was fun but it would have been better if formal night was a differnt night so you could stay out later but that can not really be helped b/c of the luggage thing. We miss Cocay b/c of 10-15 foot swells but the captain told us he would sail us to a sunny destination to sit for a sea day and he did just that. Very calm, enjoyable sunny day!

Overall.......I have to say I enjoy the bigger (newer) ships with bigger rooms, more seasoned staff, more things to do etc. but they did a great job with what they had. I would go on this ship again for a short cruise.

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