A different opinion of Royal Caribbean International

[Mickey'sfriend]

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.

 

[BabyFavorite]

I couldn't agree more. My husband and I took a 4-night Royal Caribbean cruise and could not have been more impressed with the service/quality all the way around.

 

[frdeb1999]

We have been considering doing one of these. Do they have anything for kids? Mine are'nt really that little. Youngest is 12 and the other 2 can both do things on their own or together. We live over on this coast also so it would be cheaper for us in the long run also.

 

[Mickey'sfriend]

They do have kids programming/clubs throughout the day. I can't speak to the specifics because we have never taken our kids with us when we cruise with RCCI. I know they have family oriented activities as well, such as a private dance party, swim party, cupcake decorating, pirate party, trivia. We saw the kids carrying around crafts each day. (Crayola is a sponsor of their kids programs.) There is also an arcarde onboard. We saw a bunch of younger teens hanging out together each evening. They were supervised by a crew member and they were all smiling and laughing.