Going to give Royal another try...

[tidefan]

So, I am so glad to be cruising again and through a few circumstances, we will be cruising a lot over the next year.

One of those will be a cruise on Oasis of the Seas. I am both hesistant as well as looking forward to the cruise as it will be a chance to give Royal another chance after a less than stellar voyage on the Serenade OTS some years ago. We are avid cruisers and have done many DCL cruises, many Princess cruises, as well as a Carnival and RCCL cruise. I am really looking forward to seeing the ship as so many of you seem to love the Oasis class. Looking forward to exploring it and doing some of the activities. That being said, I do have some hesitancy as we are not Specialty Dining people and the Oasis seems to be full of it. On Princess or DCL, I never feel like I have to pay extra to get good food, so hoping the complimentary food is good.

This will also be an interesting time to compare lines as many of our cruises in the next year are on different lines. We'll be on Virgin Voyages next month, then the Oasis, then the Mardi Gras (I am looking forward to comparing those 2 ships directly), then the Crown Princess, and then the Disney Wish next summer. (I know you all are thinking that we are spending all that FCC we may have had from an year and a half of cancelled cruises.... you may be right... )

 

[Frozen2014]

I haven't been on Serenade of the Seas, but it is one of their older smaller ships. Oasis class is completely different. The shows to the atmosphere to the activities are "wow"! Oasis as well has been recently amped so it has many bells and whistles. We have her booked for next year and can't wait.
P.S. - We personally are good with the main dining room and stick with it. Don't feel like you need to try specialty if you don't want to.

 

[DizneyNutz]

So, I am so glad to be cruising again and through a few circumstances, we will be cruising a lot over the next year.

One of those will be a cruise on Oasis of the Seas. I am both hesistant as well as looking forward to the cruise as it will be a chance to give Royal another chance after a less than stellar voyage on the Serenade OTS some years ago. We are avid cruisers and have done many DCL cruises, many Princess cruises, as well as a Carnival and RCCL cruise. I am really looking forward to seeing the ship as so many of you seem to love the Oasis class. Looking forward to exploring it and doing some of the activities. That being said, I do have some hesitancy as we are not Specialty Dining people and the Oasis seems to be full of it. On Princess or DCL, I never feel like I have to pay extra to get good food, so hoping the complimentary food is good.

This will also be an interesting time to compare lines as many of our cruises in the next year are on different lines. We'll be on Virgin Voyages next month, then the Oasis, then the Mardi Gras (I am looking forward to comparing those 2 ships directly), then the Crown Princess, and then the Disney Wish next summer. (I know you all are thinking that we are spending all that FCC we may have had from an year and a half of cancelled cruises.... you may be right... )

We also cruised with DCL around 8 times before switching to RCCL. We love cruising with RCCL and also the larger ships like you mentioned. We do like the somewhat smaller but not small ships that we sailed on in the resumption to cruising so far since July. We are like you in that we are not foodies and have ALWAYS eaten in main dining venues until this year. Around 17 cruises main dining only and then we tried the unlimited dining package on a short getaway cruise to RRCL's Island (CoCo Cay) in September. Now we have it purchased on our next three cruises because we enjoyed the experiences we have had. And waiting for price drops to purchase for our other 2 we currently have booked also.

I would recommend watching your cruise planner for sales, (especially Black Friday) and maybe purchase either Chops +1 or the 3 night specialty and give some of the other venues a go. You might find that it isnt all about the food but the experience as well. When on sale you can generally find the packages at under $30/ day and if you get the unlimited it includes some lunches as well. WE have the Unlimited for our 7 night trip next week and it was $196. We are looking forward to trying Wonderland this trip with a group of friends we are travelling with. We are also dining at Chops with them 1 night also.

Are you on Facebook? If you haven't already, try to find a Facebook group for your exact sailing. Helps having the extra eyes watching things like cabin price drops, cruise planner sales, earlier embarkation postings, etc. We cruise next week for Thanksgiving Cruise and around 3 weeks ago some in our Group (we have almost 500 members) posted there was a major price drop on all cabins. We had our TA check and she was able to reprice our cruise and we got a $1,259 OBC since it was after PIF Date. Hope you have a great cruise this time with Royal and don't hesitate to try something new like we did. wish we had tried the Specialty Dining a lot sooner. Happy Cruising

 

[starvenger]

You've got an interesting schedule ahead of you!

From what I've seen, Virgin is quite different. Not surprising, I suppose. Richard Branson loves being different.

Oasis and Mardi Gras should be an interesting comparison. I haven't been on Carnival yet, but Mardi Gras looks like it's something that is meant to appeal to Oasis-class fans. Heard good things about it.

For Oasis, Black Friday will probably be your best shot at finding discounts. I've traditionally waited until then to book things like photo packages. Coffee card might be a good item to look for as well.

For food, I've found the "free" restaurants to be perfectly fine. Being on an Oasis class, you actually have more free options than on the smaller Royal ships. Off the top of my head, you've got the MDR, WindJammer, Sorrentos, Promenade Cafe, Park Cafe and El Loco Fresh. Plus Johnny Rockets for breakfast. Still a nice view, in spite of the Abyss being there.

As for the specialty dining, I don't know that you're missing much with Chops, Giovanni's and the hibachi grill. Playmakers, Izumi and Portside BBQ are all a la carte, so you could still indulge if you wanted to.

 

[tidefan]

We also cruised with DCL around 8 times before switching to RCCL. We love cruising with RCCL and also the larger ships like you mentioned. We do like the somewhat smaller but not small ships that we sailed on in the resumption to cruising so far since July. We are like you in that we are not foodies and have ALWAYS eaten in main dining venues until this year. Around 17 cruises main dining only and then we tried the unlimited dining package on a short getaway cruise to RRCL's Island (CoCo Cay) in September. Now we have it purchased on our next three cruises because we enjoyed the experiences we have had. And waiting for price drops to purchase for our other 2 we currently have booked also.

I would recommend watching your cruise planner for sales, (especially Black Friday) and maybe purchase either Chops +1 or the 3 night specialty and give some of the other venues a go. You might find that it isnt all about the food but the experience as well. When on sale you can generally find the packages at under $30/ day and if you get the unlimited it includes some lunches as well. WE have the Unlimited for our 7 night trip next week and it was $196. We are looking forward to trying Wonderland this trip with a group of friends we are travelling with. We are also dining at Chops with them 1 night also.

Are you on Facebook? If you haven't already, try to find a Facebook group for your exact sailing. Helps having the extra eyes watching things like cabin price drops, cruise planner sales, earlier embarkation postings, etc. We cruise next week for Thanksgiving Cruise and around 3 weeks ago some in our Group (we have almost 500 members) posted there was a major price drop on all cabins. We had our TA check and she was able to reprice our cruise and we got a $1,259 OBC since it was after PIF Date. Hope you have a great cruise this time with Royal and don't hesitate to try something new like we did. wish we had tried the Specialty Dining a lot sooner. Happy Cruising

Thanks!

We won't be trying the specialty dining. I'm sure it's great, but we just don't like spending extra (outside of a Coke package) when we've already spent to get on the ship. I also don't really get the charges for the BBQ place or the sports bar. It's not like that is gourmet food areas...

When we don't sail DCL, we usually cruise Princess, which we really, really like. I hope we really like the Oasis class as well. However, we won't do the ice rink or the rock walls, or that stuff, but are looking forward to just walking around the Central Park area and the Sanctuary (well that's what Princess calls it, not sure what RCCL calls it, "Solarium" I think?) area. Also looking forward to checking out Coco Cay.

Our one RCCL cruise on the Serenade had a number of issues, mainly being the fact that it was the first US cruise after being in Europe and there was some kind of labor dispute, so a number of people did not renew contracts which left them short staffed for the first half of our cruise (they onloaded a number of crew actually from the Oasis while we were docked with her in Falmouth to help staff, as a couple of examples, first, for the first 3 days of the cruise, there was only one person working the main bar by the main pool, second, our first night in Anytime dining, we waited over 40 minutes from when we were sat until we were waited on).

This is a cruise we sort of "fell into", but are really looking forward to. Interestingly, we will be cruising the Carnival Mardi Gras a couple months after the Oasis, so it will be interesting to compare the two...

 

[tidefan]

You've got an interesting schedule ahead of you!

From what I've seen, Virgin is quite different. Not surprising, I suppose. Richard Branson loves being different.

Oasis and Mardi Gras should be an interesting comparison. I haven't been on Carnival yet, but Mardi Gras looks like it's something that is meant to appeal to Oasis-class fans. Heard good things about it.

For Oasis, Black Friday will probably be your best shot at finding discounts. I've traditionally waited until then to book things like photo packages. Coffee card might be a good item to look for as well.

For food, I've found the "free" restaurants to be perfectly fine. Being on an Oasis class, you actually have more free options than on the smaller Royal ships. Off the top of my head, you've got the MDR, WindJammer, Sorrentos, Promenade Cafe, Park Cafe and El Loco Fresh. Plus Johnny Rockets for breakfast. Still a nice view, in spite of the Abyss being there.

As for the specialty dining, I don't know that you're missing much with Chops, Giovanni's and the hibachi grill. Playmakers, Izumi and Portside BBQ are all a la carte, so you could still indulge if you wanted to.

Honestly, I have no idea of what to expect with Virgin, even with seeing various trip reports/youtubes, etc. People either seem to love it or hate it. Or both. That will be interesting...

Yeah, we are looking forward to all of these cruises. Getting to compare Oasis to Mardi Gras this close together will be cool. Also, our trip on Princess to Alaska goes to Glacier Bay, which we have not been to before, so we are also looking forward to that in particular on that cruise.

 

[DizneyNutz]

 

[tidefan]

From what I've seen, Virgin is quite different. Not surprising, I suppose. Richard Branson loves being different.

Quick update. On Scarlet Lady as I write this. Virgin has completely blown away our expectations. The ship is beautiful and quirky, in a good way. Of note:

- There is no main dining room. There are various restaurants across the ship and they are all included. Quality has been amazing in all we’ve tried so far. Some are open for lunch as well.

- The WiFi I am using to type this on is included. So nice…

- The ice cream place (also included) is not soft serve. It’s real “gelato” style ice cream in either vanilla, chocolate, or red velvet waffle cones.

- No buffet. The “Galley” is kind of like a food court. Soft drinks are included and the machines are accessible 24/7. There are ramen, taco, burger, sushi, breakfast, panini, salad (think like the “Chopt” place), and a dessert place that has one of those frozen pops carts.

- Virgin has spaces on the ship in the Galley and elsewhere where they have pre-packaged “grab and go” food. You just grab what you want out of the cooler and go. Things like a charcuterie and cheese box, tres leches cake, Caesar salad, turkey wraps, etc.

- Interestingly, there is no mask requirement onboard.

- Show spaces are very different. Not sure how to explain it, but we’ve been to 3 shows in there and it’s looked like a completely different place each time. Acrobatics show tonight was amazing. Shows are definitely aimed at adults.

- The elevators. Again, not sure how to explain. They are the best we’ve had at sea.

- The arcade onboard is completely free (as are the foosball, air hockey, and those cool bar shuffleboard tables). The joy of sitting there playing tabletop Ms. Pac-Man…. Also, there is a food stand there that does dressed up hot dogs, pretzels and cheese, and floats, but they also have a candy stand where you can get gummy bears, licorice, etc. Again, included.

- I had thought that the hammock on the balcony was a gimmick. Now I wonder how I will have one without a hammock. Absolutely love it.

- The Pizza restaurant is “almost” as good as Alfredo’s on Princess (but, I think Alfredo’s wins by a hair…)

We will definitely be back on Virgin.

 

[John VN]

Quick update. On Scarlet Lady as I write this. Virgin has completely blown away our expectations. The ship is beautiful and quirky, in a good way........................We will definitely be back on Virgin.

Thanks for the *while on cruise* update!

I've been thinking about SL but Port Canaveral is our Port of Choice and lately we've opted for MSC Yacht Club sailing. Really like the *Ship in a Ship* experience. Looking forward to our January's Meriviglia Western and any more updates from you would be welcomed.

 

[tidefan]

Thanks for the *while on cruise* update!

I've been thinking about SL but Port Canaveral is our Port of Choice and lately we've opted for MSC Yacht Club sailing. Really like the *Ship in a Ship* experience. Looking forward to our January's Meriviglia Western and any more updates from you would be welcomed.

Haven’t been on MSC, but would like to try it sometime.

We will definitely be back on Virgin.

 

[RAD]

Have you checked our Celebrity? One of the owners of this forum and a TA (Tracey) talk them up as being close to equal to DCL when it comes to service. Their newer ships, Apex and Edge have split their 'main' dining room into four separate rooms, each with a different menu reflecting four different areas while also having some specialty restaurants. There are a ton of videos on YouTube that give tours of the ships. We did the Oasis 5 year ago and for the four adults in the party we all felt that it was just too big.

 

[tidefan]

Have you checked our Celebrity? One of the owners of this forum and a TA (Tracey) talk them up as being close to equal to DCL when it comes to service. Their newer ships, Apex and Edge have split their 'main' dining room into four separate rooms, each with a different menu reflecting four different areas while also having some specialty restaurants. There are a ton of videos on YouTube that give tours of the ships. We did the Oasis 5 year ago and for the four adults in the party we all felt that it was just too big.

We actually prefer Princess, which is similar, and we have elite status with them, so we get free laundry, minibar, etc…

 

[tidefan]

Back from Oasis. It was during the COVID outbreak, so hard to tell what a “normal” sailing would look like, but it was an overall good cruise, with hits and misses.

Hits:

Aqua 80 show was amazing. Right up there with Virgin’s Duel Reality show.

Enjoyed the Coke Freestyle machines (didn’t have those on the Serenade)

MDR Head Waiter, Dennis, was great. I hardly ever notice the head waiter, but he was very involved with my Wife’s food allergies.

Slides were good and we enjoyed the Solarium area.

Loco Fresh was good.

Misses:

$11.95 for a movie on the stateroom TV? They’re included on DCL, Virgin and Princess…

Ice Cream. Only one tiny area on the pool deck for soft serve and it closed every day at 5:30 or 6:00. (However the “for charge” Sugar Beach ice cream stayed open late…)

Did not like that many casual eateries (Playmakers, BBQ, Johnny Rockets) we’re upcharge. Who would pay $3 for fries on a cruise? This was compounded by the fact that you could only get a complimentary burger in the Windjammer, and they weren’t very good.

Food quality on the ship was very lacking. We only ate in complimentary venues, but we’re underwhelmed by the food. Also, strange hours for eateries (not sure if that was COVID related or not). Solarium Bistro only open from 10-1 each day. Only went once…

CATS (really not that great…)

General feeling of pushed for upcharge for everything.

I’ll do a more full review later…

 

[starvenger]

$11.95 for a movie on the stateroom TV? They’re included on DCL, Virgin and Princess…

Yeah that is a bit . I suppose I never think much about it since I'm not one to watch movies in my room.

Did not like that many casual eateries (Playmakers, BBQ, Johnny Rockets) we’re upcharge. Who would pay $3 fir fries on a cruise? This was compounded by the fact that you could only get a complimentary burger in the Windjammer, and they weren’t very good.

This is really what people mean when it comes to the nickel and diming. My feeling is that it's a way to sell the ultimate dining packages, since you can then essentially eat at these places all the time.

CATS (really not that great…)

Can't say I'm surprised.

General feeling of pushed for upcharge for everything.

It's definitely something that people feel first time on one of these ships. By our second time, we figured out how to avoid/ignore the upselling. But not a great selling point if you're trying to get that repeat cruiser.

 

[tidefan]

So, we just got off Oasis of the Seas, and quite honestly, were very underwhelmed, especially with the food. MDR had good service, but below average to terrible food. My wife's Prime Rib was inedible (you could not cut through it). We were also surprised at how small the buffet (Windjammer) area was for the size of the ship, we only had 2,900 on our sailing and the Windjammer didn't have open seats at breakfast. Food there, especially desserts, wasn't the best. Not sure how they manage with more than that on the ship. Maybe it was because the Solarium Buffet area wasn't open but from 11-1 each day. Entertainment was hit or miss, though I will say that the Aqua80 show is amazing and made up for how bad "Cats" was... (I had read all the posts on cruise critic of people making fun of it, but I thought, "well, I enjoyed it on land... it can't be too bad..." Yes, it can...). The ice show was OK too.

Surprisingly, I actually found myself bored on Oasis, which was about the last thing in the world I ever expected. Maybe this was due to COVID... Other than the casino, or karaoke on the promenade, or going on the sea deck, there wasn't a lot for a 50ish year old to do (i'm not into rock walls, ice skating, or the flowrider thing). I enjoyed the waterslides, though they have these things on Carnival and DCL as well. To sum up, they had a lot of "bells and whistles", but IMHO, were very lacking on the activity schedule (again - could be due to COVID). That being said, I can totally see where those in the 12-18 year old age range would love the ship.

Also, I HATED the fact that it seemed like in order to get any decent food, you had to pay an upcharge. No poolside eateries (other than "Loco Fresh"' which I will admit was very similar to Blue Iguana on Carnival and was included), so if you want a burger, you have to go to Windjammer (or pay extra for Johnny Rockets). Also, ice cream service only went until 5:30pm. If you wanted any after that, you had to pay extra at the "Sugar Beach". I also hated that the sports bar area charged for food for things like chicken wings, chicken tenders, and fries. We never ate at any of the upcharge places. Lastly, the Promenade Cafe was a joke as the food was terrible there (again, whoever is in charge of desserts/pastries on RCCL should be fired). The International Cafe on Princess is light years better than this...

We did enjoy Coco Cay, especially the fact that it had a pool. Food on Coco Cay was actually better than it was on the ship. We didn't pay for the waterpark area, so can't review that. All in all a nice addition to the cruise. Is it better than Castaway? I'd say that depends on what you are looking for. Personally, we probably enjoy Castaway a bit more, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with Coco Cay. I actually might give the nod to Virgin's Bimini Beach Club, which, although much smaller than the other two and not being it's own "island", was great for what it was and the food was amazing...

This was our 3rd cruise back post-COVID and probably our least favorite so far, though we did have fun and would not hesitate to do another Oasis class ship, it's just that we can usually find a similar Princess itinerary for less and if we are going to splurge a bit, we will probably do Virgin Voyages. We have also cruised on Disney Magic and on Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady in the past few months. TBH, Virgin blows most everyone else out of the water where food is concerned and I would say entertainment, though "different" is up there with DCL and RCCL. We were really impressed by the food quality and inclusions on Virgin. If you haven't tried it, do it. For instance, the ice cream there, which is open until 10pm is gelato style and included! The DCL cruise was a pretty good cruise as well. Food (especially desserts) were really, really good -- much better than RCCL. Also, the entertainment, as always, is really good, though I'd say that you really need to be a Disney fan to enjoy it. I also enjoy the full size movie theaters on the DCL ships and the included on demand movies on Virgin, DCL, and Princess. (As mentioned above, on RCCL, they were $11.99 a pop...)

Our next cruise is on Mardi Gras in a couple of months, so we will get to compare it to Oasis, which is what I think Carnival is targeting with this. We've only done one other Carnival cruise (Sunshine back in 2015 - surprisingly great cruise, with a good deal of thanks to the amazing Jamie Dee for making that cruise so fun...), and had a great time, so we are looking forward to that and being able to compare.

I'll also say that overall, we really enjoy Princess as we find that the food is mostly pretty good (especially Alfredo's and the Buffets on the Royal Class ships) and you never feel like you have to shell out extra to enjoy it. Maybe it's our age group (late 40's / early 50's), but even though there are no rock walls or waterslides on the Princess ships, they always seem to have multiple things going on all the time (my favorite being the time we stumbled into the "Dirty Irish Songs" sing-a-long) and we enjoy the vibe on the ships, though we also enjoyed that Sunshine cruise, so hopefully our Mardi Gras cruise will be similar!

 

[starvenger]

I've actually never liked Royal's prime rib because of whatever brining they do to the meat. Makes it taste... off.

The Windjammer is actually quite big, so I wonder if they reduced seating and kept only one half open the entire cruise. We usually went to MDR (for the mini-buffet) or Johnny Rockets for breakfast in any case. Park Cafe was generally busy during breakfast.

I've heard so many positive reviews of Virgin and it makes me want to ditch the kids and try it out.

Mardi Gras should be good as well. Don't remember if they have a Guy's or a Shaq's restaurant on board but I like that Carnival includes those places with your basic meals.

Thanks for your thoughts on this. It sort of shows that everyone is looking for something different when it comes to cruising and it pays to "shop around" in order to find the cruise line you love.

 

[tidefan]

I've actually never liked Royal's prime rib because of whatever brining they do to the meat. Makes it taste... off.

The Windjammer is actually quite big, so I wonder if they reduced seating and kept only one half open the entire cruise. We usually went to MDR (for the mini-buffet) or Johnny Rockets for breakfast in any case. Park Cafe was generally busy during breakfast.

I've heard so many positive reviews of Virgin and it makes me want to ditch the kids and try it out.

Mardi Gras should be good as well. Don't remember if they have a Guy's or a Shaq's restaurant on board but I like that Carnival includes those places with your basic meals.

Thanks for your thoughts on this. It sort of shows that everyone is looking for something different when it comes to cruising and it pays to "shop around" in order to find the cruise line you love.

No, WJ was full seating, but they did have some tables where you couldn't sit due to social distancing. Was still quite busy. I personally think it may be because they had the Solarium Bistro (which people told me had similar items, esp. for Breakfast) closed so much. Also, we didn't know there was a mini-buffet in the MDR. Will have to check that out next time. (and Johnny Rockets was closed for Breakfast due to COVID...)

Please don't take my comments that we didn't have a good time. Quite the contrary, we really enjoyed the ship. However, we really find something we enjoy on all of the lines. It does seem, though, like the target audience for each line is different, which is a good thing. As I said, we do enjoy Princess, but I like taking cruises on all the lines. They're all pretty good. Variety is the spice of life!

I do think you should give Virgin a try. I will say that their marketing is a bit off as I thought the whole ship would be one big tattoo parlor Their ads really don't give a good idea of how upscale, yet casual, it really is...

 

[starvenger]

Also, we didn't know there was a mini-buffet in the MDR.

Yeah it's basic, but if you're not looking for anything fancy it does the trick.

Pity about Johnny Rockets. Easily one of the best places to eat breakfast on an Oasis class.

Please don't take my comments that we didn't have a good time.

No worries - I did see that you enjoyed yourself and a cruise would have to be really bad for a repeat cruiser to hate it.

I do think you should give Virgin a try. I will say that their marketing is a bit off as I thought the whole ship would be one big tattoo parlor Their ads really don't give a good idea of how upscale, yet casual, it really is...

I still can't believe that they thought a tattoo parlour on a cruise ship was a good idea. I think I'd pass on that and stick with the land-based places.

 

[LSUfan4444]

we are not Specialty Dining people and the Oasis seems to be full of it. On Princess or DCL, I never feel like I have to pay extra to get good food, so hoping the complimentary food is good.

The MDR is good for two or three nights on a 7 night sailing in my opinion. And the ship does have some really good complimentary options but alot of those options can be found in other places not in the MDR. The ship has so much to offer and so much to do we don't think the MDR every night is a good way to invest our time.

 

[Gypsybear]

Well, we just returned Sunday from our first trip with RCCL. I will preface my comments with: We most likely will NOT be cruising with them again. We took the 7 day trip out of Galveston on the Liberty of the Seas.

Our cabin steward couldn't have been any better. Ida was awesome. They need more like her.

Ok, so the food, was sorely OVERRATED. The food, in several instances, wasn't prepared properly. I don't know how difficult it is for people to scramble eggs, but YUCK!! Steaks. Oy!! What a mess. They were all over the place on their consistence. We ate in the main dining room, as well as Chops. Again, the consistency...not there. Sabor - they tried too hard, and made the menu too "plussed", to actually enjoy the food. We had 4 in our party, all on the unlimited dining package. So, we literally tried EVERYTHING on the menu. We left over 1/2 of the food on the plates. They just need to not be so concerned with trying to "plus it" and just serve good food. Johnny Rockets. We are there alot. Why? Because they literally gave us "regular sized" glasses of soda. The food was CONSISTENT. It was well prepared, and the staff was friendly and attentive. Windjammer. Not even the bananas (still in the green peel). The young woman who was working the omelette station was RUDE. I have a hard time reading the light blue print in their crystal style sign holders. So she asked me what I needed. I said a Ham & Cheese omelette. Her reply: It's right there in front of you. Honestly, the way the eggs were prepared, you couldn't tell the difference in the different types of omelettes. She rolled her eyes, grabbed a plate and told the server to put one on there. She then spun around to face me, and almost flung the omelette off, and onto me. At WJ, we were consistently ignored by the folks with drinks coming around. We went on more than a few occasions to get our own (on the soda plan). There was no social distancing being practiced in the dining room.

Masking was hit and miss. MOST crew members were really good about it. Some not so much. With cruisers, it was mostly miss, with MANY complaining about it.

The merch in the shops was lacking in variety, unless you wanted jewelry, or shopping for women's clothing. Not many men's options at all on the ship.

Internet - sloooooooooow. It made me angry because of the cost vs. speed. 'Nuff said about that.

Television - we nicknamed it the Stuttervision. It froze and skipped so often, we didn't know if we were still on the same show at times.

The elevators had signage CLEARLY stating no more than 5 passengers, or a single group. You can guess how well that was adhered to.

Overall, we rate it a: C- Not enough value for the money.