http://www.bestcruisespot.com/ http://www.bestcruisespot.com/images/stories/toolbar_feed.png http://www.bestcruisespot.com/ http://www.bestcruisespot.com/component/content/article/21-Royal-Caribbean/402-oasis-of-the-seas busyguy Royal Caribbean 2010-12-25 05:11:38 http://www.bestcruisespot.com/component/content/article/21-Royal-Caribbean/150-rhapsody-of-the-seas Mortimer Royal Caribbean 2009-12-03 07:20:53 http://www.bestcruisespot.com/component/content/article/21-Royal-Caribbean/46-voyager-of-the-seas
Our ports of call were Marseille, Villefranche,Florence, Rome and Naples.

Marseille we did a 3hr city tour - whcih was interesting but not really that much to see as There is a lot of building work at the moment as they are really trying to regenerate the city at present

Villefranche - is a lovely little port, we visited Cannes and Nice - loved Cannes but not too impressed with Nice - seemed quite big and sprawling. This again was an arranged trip by RCI

Florence/Rome We arranged transport through RCI and then did them both on our own - cost £30 each - both are about 2hrs away from the port and you get dropped off at a central point. You then get about 5 hrs on your own and meet back at a designated spot. When we were in Rome there was a train strike for the day so all those people who opted to take the train in would have been stuck. You never really get time to see an awful lot but at least it gives you a taster and we had been to Rome before which helped

Naples.

We took the Hydrofoil to Capri - about 30 mins and then took the bus to Anacapri - a must is to go on the chair lift the views are specatacular, we then went back to Capri Town and had some lunch - then caught the hydrofoil back to the ship.

To sum up we really had a fantastic time. The ship was spectacular with as little or as much as you wanted to do. They catered for everyone's taste and diet and it was very professionally organised. A tip is to check in on line then you don't have to wait in horrendous queues to get aboard ship. This is really just a summary so if anyone has any questions please let me know ]]> specialK Royal Caribbean 2008-09-01 10:13:47 http://www.bestcruisespot.com/component/content/article/21-Royal-Caribbean/45-adventure-of-the-seas Orran G. Yu Royal Caribbean 2008-03-28 07:53:41 http://www.bestcruisespot.com/component/content/article/21-Royal-Caribbean/110-majesty-of-the-seas Sara Royal Caribbean 2008-02-16 12:39:49 http://www.bestcruisespot.com/component/content/article/21-Royal-Caribbean/51-enchantment-of-the-seas
Our stateroom was very nice. The whole room was comfortable to be in. The drawback to the rooms was our room steward. He was nice and did keep the room very clean and tidy but did not replenish things as he should have. People in our group had to ask repeatedly for ice. It might seem like something small to complain about but when you are in need of ice and you are not getting it when you ask for it, it becomes a big deal. Our beach towels were missing on the first day of the cruise. We only had to ask once for them and from then on he kept the towels replenished.
We were a bit disappointed with the service on board also. Our entire group was promised a booking package of wine, a fruit plate, and a certificate for gaming tokens waiting in our room upon arrival. Half of our group got slippers instead of the fruit plate the bottle of wine, and the casino certificate by the second day of travel. The rest of our group got these items on the last day and night of travel at sea and this was only after repeated trips and calls to the service desk or guest relations. The staff apologized and blamed in on computer problems. This was a bit frustrating.

Many of the shows that we attended were not impressive at all. The show people were very obviously lip synching. That was a huge turn off for me. When I go to see a singing and dancing show I fully expect the dancers and singers to actually perform the songs. They also seemed to be lacking in their desire to perform.
The comedians were pretty funny. The adult comedy show was a bit too raunchy for our taste but the other shows were quite funny. We found those to be pleasing.
The games played on ship were also very entertaining and enjoyable.

The food on the ship was nice. I was expecting something different though. On cruise ships you expect to have a wide variety of foods that are exotic or at least not what you would normally eat at home. This cruise had normal foods that I would make or get at a buffet somewhere. And the buffet items were pretty much the same everyday We were not served much seafood besides fish. That was a constant on the menu. When we cruised with Carnival we had filet mignon, lobster, specially prepared chicken and fish, etc. We did not get any of that on this cruise. There was a specialty restaurant that we could have gone to for better cuts of steak, pork and so forth but we had to pay $25.00 a person to go there. I am thinking that the ship didn't serve the better, more exotic foods at the normal dining rooms so that we were forced to pay a high price to eat them at the specialty restaurant if we wanted that.
The waiters in the main dining room were very nice and helpful. Our waiters were pleasant and very attentive to our needs. I did find the overall staff on our Carnival cruise to be more impressive though.
The food on this cruise was not available 24 hours a day as Carnival's was. There were two different places, besides the main dining room, that we could get free food from on the R.C. ship but they were not always open. The casual dining area would be open most of the day but closed from 11:00-noon and 3-6:30. These were critical hours because we would have to be back on the ship during these afternoon hours. When we got back from our excursions we would be hungry and want to eat but nothing was opened except a snack window that offered pizza, hamburger and hotdogs. Then a lot of people would be there to eat and it would take quite a long time to get the food and the staff seemed to be overwhelmed with the sudden rush of people that were off the ship for their excursions and so forth.
Another thing I noticed, small but important at the time, was the fact that the ice cream machine was not opened all day as on the Carnival cruise. There was a Ben and Jerry's store on ship but we had to pay a high price for an ice cream. Why pay when there is a free machine on board? But again, as with the dining room, I think that they closed the one and offered more at another so we would be forced to pay.

Overall our cruise was great. We had excellent weather and we had fun.
I would recommend Cozumel and Key West to anyone. They were very nice places to visit and there was much to do on your own. Belize was not so nice. We had an excursion there, an ATV ride in the Rainforest. That was fun and interesting but we had a bit of trouble finding our check point. The city was not a place I wanted to spend much time in. I did not feel safe in this city and we were even offered drugs. Not so surprising I guess, just a bit freaky. I was glad to be back on the ship after visiting there. At any of the ports there were great excursions for our group to go on.

We thank Eric Lam for all of his help and patience in booking our cruise for us. Our group will most likely book another cruise in a few years but we will probably book with one of Carnival's larger and newer ships. ]]> Melissa A Petzold Royal Caribbean 2008-02-11 08:33:55 http://www.bestcruisespot.com/component/content/article/21-Royal-Caribbean/51-enchantment-of-the-seas
Our stateroom was very nice, but the room steward was not very good at replenishing items in our room and didn't do the same in our rooms as others in our group. Had to ask several times for ice, pool towels and so forth.

Food was very nice and presentable, but not much for exotic foods. Carnival had more items to pick from that you normally wouldn't have had at home. Waitstaff was very good and friendly though.

Food was not available 24 hours as Carnival does. One area would have food till 3pm and then somewhere else would not open till 6pm. When we got back from excursions during the day to come back and eat, we couldn't. And had a late seating for dinner.

Many of the shows were not as impressive as to what we have experienced in the past as well. I guess we have spoiled before and had higher expectations. So, we ended up skipping the last couple nights of shows.

Overall, we had a great ship, great weather and fun. We were all just a little disappointed with the service, especially when our entire group was supposed to get wine, gaming chips and so forth and on the last night of the cruise, three of our cabins finally received these items after numerous visits to their desk. A little frustrating and guest services told me that they had computer problems.

Would recommend Cozumel and Key West to anyone. Belize was okay. Great excursions for our group to participate in. Thanks to Eric for all his assistance and patience. We will more than likely plan another group cruise in a couple years, but most likely on one of Carnival's larger ships. ]]> Carrie Haubenstricker Royal Caribbean 2008-02-10 19:47:15 http://www.bestcruisespot.com/component/content/article/21-Royal-Caribbean/51-enchantment-of-the-seas
My wife and I returned from our fist ever cruise last week. Fantastic is all we can say!!! We took this short four night cruise to "test the waters" (no pun intended) to see if she would enjoy cruising, as she tends to get motion sickness and is an insulin dependant diabetic, who watches her diet very closely.

Both getting on and off the ship was effortless and well organized. We arrived at the Ft. Lauderdale Cruise Terminal at about 10:30 AM and were on board by 11:30-11:45. By the time we enjoyed a great lunch at the Windjammer, our cabin was ready. We met our cabin steward (sorry..I can't remember his name) and he had already made sure the refrigerator we had requested (to keep insulin at the proper temperature) was in the cabin, plugged in and pre cooled. That was the last we saw of him, but he was very efficient at keeping our cabin neat and clean with no problems whatsoever. My wife especially appreciated the towel animals (a swan with sunglasses, a hanging monkey and a sting ray with wrapped candy mints for eyes) that were left every night except the first night. We had an outside cabin, misdhip on deck three. With everything we have read on these boards, we were aprehensive about the size of the cabin and especially the shower. Not to worry!!!! Although the cabin is on the small side, it is ingeniously laid out with plenty of room to store everything...even though we grossly overpacked. Sure...the shower is small and the shower curtain sticks like glue, but the water pressure was good, the water hot and we managed to get ourselves clean. What more could we want? !!! We only felt bad for the cabin steward who had to mop up wet floors. There seems to be no way to keep the shower from spilling onto the bathroom floor.

Disembarking was well organized. We had color green and were up early. We took advantage of a good breakfast at the Windjammer. After that, we went to our assigned area and waited for our color to be called. That happened within a short time, and we were off the ship (reluctantly), baggage in hand by 10:30 AM. No muss, no fuss with very little standing in line. This was another surprise after reading some of the horror stories posted here. Although not related to disembarkation, I thought I'd mention that the muster drill, held the first afternoon on board, also was not a bad as we were led to believe. We saw only 3 or 4 people give the crew a hard time...2 ladies? wanted to bring their drinks with them and could not understand why they were not allowed to do so......another couple of ladies ? complained loudly and vociferously that the orange life jacket did not match their outfits. They were obviously not joking, either. To each his own, I guess. The drill was over with 1/2 to 3/4 hour.

The ship itself is beautiful...much nicer than we expected, due to her age. The recent "stretch job" is hardly visible and the entire ship is as clean as a whistle, with cleaning being carried out seemingly around the clock. Unfortunately, due to the short duration of this cruise, we didn't have a chance to see the entire ship, but what we did see was impressive.

In our opinion, the entertain was ok, but not great. This is probably due to our own personal tastes, as it seemed like everyone around us was enjoying it. We saw a juggler, who was just ok, a comedian was so-so and the one production show we saw was a disappointment. We did not attend the second production show as my wife had dancing on her mind, and we spent the evening at Boleros with the salsa dancing. This is not meant to be a complaint, but merely our own opinion.

We ate breakfast and lunch at the Windjammer every day, except the one morning that my wife had an early spa appointment. We ordered room service that morning and the food and service were both excellent. The Windjammer meals were more than good. The variety of choices was amazing and everything we tried was good, especially the roast chicken at lunch. The only item I didn't care for was the scrambled eggs the first morning, but I remedied that by ordering eggs over at the omelet bar the rest of the cruise. That did the trick!! One person who really merits special mention is Maurice from Jamaica, one of the Windjammer wait staff. He couldn't do enough for us and he could have been a comedy act himself!! Ya Mon!!!! We apprecited the crewmember stationed at the Windjammer entrances, making certain everyone sanitized their hands before entering. That goes a long way towards keeping the "bug" from ruining a vacation. We were also impressed by the many (though not obtrusive) announcements throughout the ship to keep hands washed with soap and hot water we heard throughout the cruise.

We had dinner every night at the My Fair Lady Dining Room, and what an experience that was!! We were seated at table 99, a table for eight.. We had pleasant tablemeates with whom we had a good time and good conversation. The best part, though, was the wait staff. They were: Head Waiter Ricardo, from the Phillipines, who visited our table at least twice each evening....Waiter Chris from the Phillipines and Jaoa (sp?) from India. These guys were GREAT!!!! They really added to the pleasure of cruising. They were efficient, helpful with suggestions, comedic and just a pleasure to be around. We had a few moments to speak with each of them about their homes and families etc. and really enjoyed talking with them. Chris, our waiter, knew of my wife's diabetes and went above and beyond in making sure he suggested the proper meals and he made sure he pointed out the sugar free desserts she could enjoy. Royal Caribbean is indeed fortunate to have them all!!!Although we opted for the prepaid suggested tips, a little extra cash went in to each of their envelopes along with the voucher. They worked very hard to please us and they surely deserved more than the suggested amount.

The dining room food was all delicious, and served at the proper temperature and with a flair. The only meal I had that was not great was the prime rib. I asked for a medium cut and it was served a little too well done and somewhat dry for my taste. Since it was certainly not inedible, I said nothing to Chris. If I had said something, he would have been apologizing the rest of the cruise!!! Everyone at our table commented at one time or another how well everything was presented and how good everything was. Have we had better meals at expensive upscale restaurants? Sure....but for the amount of meals being prepared at the same time, each and every meal was more than acceptable ....in fact, rather good. We also enjoyed the entertainment presented by the wait staff with their parade of nations, etc.

As to shore excursions, Key West was a little bit of a disappointment....only because of the short time we were in port. We arrived at 7AM and had to be back on board no later than 1:30 PM. We has only time to take the Conch Train tour and it was enjoyable, but we wished we had more time in that port.

Cozumel was a blast!!! Taking kind advice from several of you who answered my posts about being a newbie, I booked a Swim with the Dolphins tour through the ship as a surprise to my wife. She's a devout animal lover and I havn't seen such a big smile on her face in a long, long time. Thanks for the suggestion!! We both thoroughly enjoyed this tour and WILL do it again. The only suggestion we have is to have the ship and/or the tour operator suggest some kind of swim footwear be worn. A large part of the time is spent in standing on a platform, whose floor is open steel grating, and is submerged so that one stands in about waist deep water. Trying to balance against the natural wave action, in bare feet on the grating is hard on the feet and quite uncomfortable. That was, however, a small inconvenience to an otherwise very enjoyable tour. Next time we'll bring swim shoes.

As to my wife's propensity to motion sickness, she was fine until Sunday, the final day and our only sea day. We were returning from Cozumel to Ft. Lauderdale when the seas started to build. The major snow storm that hit the entire East Coast on Tuesday and Wednesday 2/13 and 14, had its beginnings in the area we were cruising. It was raining all day, cold and with high winds. The ship got to "rocking and rolling". My wife started feeling a little queazy so she took a meclazine tablet prescribed by her doctor. After lying in the cabin for about an hour, she felt much better. She got up and we went to the Windjammer for lunch. What else?!!!!She was fine from that point on.

All in all..it was a great time. We found that cruising is a ball and we will definitely do it again. Now that we have this trial run under our belts, we'll take a longer cruise next time, possibly the Eastern Caribbean. Wherever we go, it will definitely be on Royal Caribbean. In case anyone is wondering...no, I don't work for Royal Caribbean, nor am I a plant on these boards!!!

Even though, as first time cruisers, we have nothing to compare it to, we thought this cruise was top notch. I don't see how anyone in the entire crew could have done anything more to make our vacation a success. It looks to us like RCI has it down pat!! In our opinion, if anyone feels a need to complain as is prevalant on these boards, they have either had a much, much different experience than we, or they are not happy unleess they have something to complain about!

Sorry if this was too long...but I'm new at this. ]]> cruiseXpress Royal Caribbean 2008-01-15 20:05:19 http://www.bestcruisespot.com/component/content/article/21-Royal-Caribbean/151-splendour-of-the-seas
The food was the worst we have experienced on an RCI cruise and choice of dining was limited, due to the size of the ship. The excursions were very limited. Christmas was not particularly evident, apart from a few trees and Carols sung on Christmas Eve. I believe this was the first time they had operated this cruise. Let's hope they improve on what we experienced. ]]> Donna Ward Royal Caribbean 2008-01-13 15:04:21 http://www.bestcruisespot.com/component/content/article/21-Royal-Caribbean/44-brilliance-of-the-seas Donna Ward Royal Caribbean 2008-01-13 14:46:28