Mickey'sfriend
10-14-2007, 03:44 PM
After reading the poor trip report from a recent RCCI cruiser, I felt compelled to write about my recent cruise experience. My dh and I just returned on Friday from a 5 night cruise to Bermuda. This was our 4th cruise with RCCI and we have always found their service to be top notch. Embarkation is smooth and efficient. We love the convenience of sailing out of NJ (right by the Statue of Liberty) - no extra expense or time spent traveling to FL for us northerners. We sailed on the Explorer of the Seas, one of their bigger, but not biggest ships. The ship was built in 2000 and I'm not sure when it last went to dry dock, but it is still in excellent condition. The only area I thought that needed updating was some of the carpets. Interestingly enough, after I mentioned that to my dh, the next day we saw carts of old carpet scraps being hauled away in the service elevators. The crew could not have been more friendly or polite. Nothing was too much trouble for them. Even in the buffet areas the wait staff continually asked if they could get you drinks, extra desserts, etc. For us, the food is a cut above Disney, both in the dinning rooms and buffet areas. We even got Lobster one night and the waiter brought me a second one after I raved how good it was!! Our waiter was always bringing our table extra desserts and appetizers at dinner time and our cups never went empty before they were refilled. The menus seem to have more choices than Disney and as I said, we find the food to be better. Our stateroom was smaller than Disney and we missed the split bath, but we also paid less for our 5 night than Disney's 4 night. Since we only sleep and change clothes in the room, the size difference makes no matter to us. We could always find a deck chair by the pool, even on sea days. Yes, there is more smoking and drinking, but we never saw anyone "out of control" or even doing anything questionable. The entertainment was excellent also, but I would not have wanted my children seeing the evening shows - they were not family oriented IMO. I would rate them as PG-13.
We find RCCI to have an excellent, affordable cruise, but we admit that we will not take our kids with us on these trips. For our family trips, we will stay with Disney. For our "couples only" trips, RCCI is our line of choice.
We find RCCI to have an excellent, affordable cruise, but we admit that we will not take our kids with us on these trips. For our family trips, we will stay with Disney. For our "couples only" trips, RCCI is our line of choice.