FAMILY FUN - Royal Caribbean Review
The traffic getting to the cruise terminal on Sunday AM was SLOW going to get into the terminal area. I would recommend driving past the terminal and coming in from the east direction, rather than from the West and having to wait forever to turn into the terminal drives. Once we did get on the property, there were porters very available to assist in getting the luggage from the car and onto a cart for us. He showed us where the check in was and took care of getting all our luggage inside and checked in for us, which was a great help. He was friendly and affable and well worth the tip he earned.
The staff inside the terminal were courteous and More smiling as they directed us where we needed to be. Our check in was 10:30 and it was probably about 11 by the time we got the car parked and everyone at the check in area. We are Platinum guests and had priority check in, but there was not a long line or wait time even for the other guests checking in. The check in staff are amazing to me at how quickly they manage to get such a large crowd of people checked in, sea pass cards printed and photo ID made and smiling and friendly throughout this process. Once we had our sea pass cards, we were directed to the walkway onto the ship and it went very quickly. The cabins were not available until 1, so we boarded a few minutes before noon and headed to eat.
The Windjammer was open and ready for guests. There was a great variety of food and although there were many people aboard already, we were able to find seating for 6 and enjoyed a lunch of delicious food. Staff was friendly and serving tea, lemonade and water to the guests seated at tables. Those drinks were available on the serving lines also. When we finished eating, it was time for the stateroom to be available, so we headed downstairs to our cabin.
Embarkation information said luggage would be delivered to cabins about an hour after sail away at 4:30, but when we arrived at our cabin, luggage was sitting outside the door, waiting for us to take it inside the cabin. We stayed in the Royal Family Suite for 6 of us for the week. It had two bedrooms and the couch in the living room made into a bed. There were 2 bathrooms and a large balcony with 2 loungers and a small table between them, as well as dining table, with 4 chairs. There was ample room to hang out on the balcony and look at the ocean and the wake of the ship. The only problem with having the rear balcony is the soot from the smokestacks on the ship. I had read about that being a problem prior to our sailing and it definitely is. Our cabin steward even told us to wipe things off with a wash cloth to clean up the soot. It is on everything daily and there was always a huge puddle of water on one of the loungers where the staff washed away the soot on the deck above us sometime during the night. I saw them washing down the lower levels with a water hose during the day, but never knew when they cleaned it during the night...only had the water standing on our balcony and in the chairs.
We only ate in the main dining room 2 nights due to having an 8 and 9-year-old with us and the time spent to get through a formal meal is more than they had the patience for. The service in the dining room was excellent. The tables were very close together and when you move your chair out, you may bump into the person behind you, or need to squeeze in so the wait staff can get behind you. The servers were unable to get around chairs often, so there was a lot of reaching across in front of us to serve the food to the others at our table. No fault of the servers, just too many tables too close together in the dining room. I did notice that when they served the soup or salad or appetizers, all those courses were served together, i.e. we each had soup, or shrimp cocktail and a salad, so there were LOTS of dishes on the table at the same time, rather than serving one course at a time. The server brought bread around prior to the soup and salad and usually they did not make it back around with the bread basket, so I would say get 2 rolls at that time, if you are big on bread with your meal, because they probably won't make it back around to you.
Food entrees were average and presentation was OK. The desserts were good and presented nicely. I don't know if they had any entertainment by the dining staff, as most cruise lines do during the 7 day cruise, since we only ate in the MDR twice, but there was none on the nights we were there.
The Windjammer had a wonderful variety of food choices any time we were there. Of course, they are always crowded at breakfast and tables are sometimes difficult to find for 6 people. Lunch and dinner times in there were quieter and less busy, but the food was always excellent and you could find something great to eat. They have hours posted for each, but I found that although the daily planner said they closed at 3:30 for lunch, they were always serving past that time and of course had snacks available beginning at 3:30 to 4:30 in the Windjammer.
We did not eat in any of the specialty restaurants, so I can't say anything about their food or service. We did eat at Johnny Rocket's one night and the burgers were great, as were the onion rings. It is very reasonably priced, with everything but milk shakes being included in the $5.95 cover charge. The pizza place on board, Sorrento's, has pizza available until 2 AM and we did eat there a couple of times. Family members said they had great bruschetta. I thought the pizza was just OK, but nothing special. You can also get small pastries and desserts there. The Cafe Promenade had nice small sandwiches and desserts and we ate there once and thought the food was good. It's all right in the middle of the promenade and convenient unless you are out on the pool deck and want something....then you might want to go the Windjammer for their hamburgers, hot dogs, or salads.
Entertainment was great on some nights and poor on others. The production shows and the ice show were fabulous! The comedians were just average, or not good on the next to last night. They have a big participation in family karaoke and that was fun and entertaining. The ice show fills up quickly and is a smaller venue than the Platinum theater, so plan on getting there soon enough to get a seat. I never saw the Platinum theater full for any of the shows we saw in there. It is a very large venue.
We had some special amenities because of staying in the family suite and it will definitely spoil you!! There is reserved seating for suite guests at all the shows, so there is is not a need to get there an hour ahead of time just to get a seat. There is a special section on the pool deck, so there are loungers available to you and believe me, on those sea days, the pool deck is VERY CROWDED and loungers are full, so that was a nice perk to have a place to sit. There is also the Suite lounge on the 14th deck, with a concierge to assist with any needs or questions you have and to aid in booking anything on the ship. They provide continental breakfast and nice snacks and bar in the evenings. It has great views and the staff is superb. The drinks are complimentary, just tip the servers. My granddaughters LOVED the Shirley temples there every evening!! I'd like to be able to afford these suites on every cruise, but certainly enjoyed them on this one with the family suite!
They do provide a program for children, and we signed our grandchildren up for the program, but they did not attend after the first time, for about 20 minutes. They did not enjoy it and did not want to return, so I can't speak for how well that program is administered.
They do have a nicely maintained mini golf course and it is fun to play. We never saw it very crowded. It is forward on 15th deck, I think. As for the water slides and flow rider that is a big part of the ship, they keep very limited hours open. I only saw people on the rock climbing wall once during out 7 days and the hours posted for the flow rider are mostly accurate, although we found them to be closed when we were told they were open while in port in Jamaica. The kids' splash pad is only open 9-6, unless they close it earlier, which we saw them do. Ice skating was only open the last day at sea, and only during the morning until noon....there were 4 30 minute sessions, ending at 12:50, so if that is something you or your family wants to participate in, plan on it being a priority to get there because my granddaughters had counted on being to do that and were unable to do so because we were unaware the sessions were so limited. Also, socks and long pants are required to do that so pack accordingly.
The ports were typical Caribbean ports. We did not book any excursions from the ship but did enjoy an excursion through Shore Excursioneer to Play Mia beach in Cozumel for a few hours. The taxi ride there for 6 cost us more than the excursion nearly! The beach was great, plus they have pools and water slides in addition to pedal boats and a water slide park out in the ocean. We used the same company for a tour in Grand Cayman to stingray ray city, snorkelling and the starfish point. It is always fun to go to Stingray city and feed the rays. Jamaica did not offer me anything that I felt a need to do, so spent the day onboard.
The service throughout the cruise was excellent and the staff was friendly and smiling. The disembarkation was quick and smooth. I know that we were escorted off the ship at 8:30 with our priority disembarkation status, but it looked very organized and smooth for others coming off later. We located a porter immediately and again, he helped us locate luggage in the terminal quickly. We processed through customs with no wait at all and the porter directed us to the area for the parking lot we were in. While a family member went after the car, the porter unloaded our bags and wished us a safe journey home, all the while smiling and chatting with us. There was a delay in getting the parking lot and back onto the terminal service lanes again, but we were loaded and in the car leaving the lot by 9:15, which was not bad considering the number of cars and people all trying to get to the same place! Just have to keep a sense of humor and be polite.
Looking forward to my next cruise in October, but sadly, without the Suite privileges!! Less
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