AOL 12/27 review

[MikeDMess]

Sailed out on AOS on 12/27/09. Here is my 2 cents...

 

This is our 7th RCCL cruise (12th overall). We are in our mid thirties.

 

A. Embarkation: First time I sailed RCCL since they initialted the e-docs. Did not do online check in. Filled out paperwork the old fasholned way and handed it to the girl at the check-in counter. Porters issue your luggage tags for you to place on your luggage. All went smooth. No porter issues as sometimes has been reported. We brought a case of 12 water bottles in our luggage with no issues.

 

B. Ship: Overall AOS in in good condition with minor cosmetics such as fading wood railings, slightly worn cabin furniture, rusted garbage pail in bathroom, and a bit of mold growing in those hard-to-clean areas of the shower. Those same old "Holiday Inn" deck chairs also were a bit worn and IMHO need changing to something more upscale.

 

C. Food. As this is subjective, I would like to say that the food in the MDR scored a bit lower than previous cruises. Duck was on the menu 3 nights, and other items repeated. The steaks were nothing near the quality of Outback's. The Chops steak upgrade was worth the $15 but still is not a "Morton's" quality. The lobster was a dissapointment. The buffet offered a good variety, but bacon always seemed to have an odd taste and the eggs were watery. The water always had a strong chlorine taste.

 

D. Meal Times: It has been several years since my last RCCL cruise and I see they have not yet changed any of the timing. It always seems that when I arrive back on the ship at 4:30 to 5 pm and go to the buffet to grab a quick bite they are closed as there is no service between 5 and 6. I would like to see extended MDR and buffet times for breakfast and lunch and a little common sense when it comes to offerings when guests arrive back onboard. Pizza in the Prominade Cafe is good but not every day. Also they should allow you to enter the Windjammer to get ice tea. There is only bad tasting water at the Prominade Cafe and they were often out of coffee the times I went.

 

E. Sea Days. After reading many posts regarding deck chairs I see the frustration. Never before have I experiences this. To start with I am not a fan of getting up early to save a chair near the pool. For those who do-congrats. If you got a chair and use it-great. If you leave it to go to the bathroom or grab a drink or even take a dip-fine with me. But, I have never seen people carrying chairs up and down stairs, accusing others of stealing chairs. My wife was accused twice and I can honestly say we grabed the chair after someone left only to be accused by another person an hour later of taking their chair. Also, when my in-law got up to get a drink she left her bag on her chair. A woman came and removed the bag without saying anything to my wife and began to pull the chair away. When my wife confronted her the women began yelling how everyone is saving chairs. Well as you can see this is a bit nuts. There is plenty of room to add chairs on deck 12 so why is RCCL not doing this? People were laying on towels and sitting on the floor leaning against the wall. This is a big disappointment.

A recomendation to RCCL: Many teens drop their shoes and stuff on a chair and never use it. Maybe installing some cubicles to store these items would free up some chairs.

 

F. Service: The service and friendliness of the staff was excellent.

 

G. My Time Dining: We did MTD and for the first 4 nights we got the same waiter so we began asking for him for the remainder of the cruise. We never made reservations and only waited 15 minutes two nights we wanted a specific waiter. Otherwise there was a short wait. We generally ate between 8 and 8:30 pm. I was told that the busy time at MTD is between 8:30 and 9 pm so the waits are a bit longer.

 

H. Room Service: I only ordered one breakfast and theyforgot items and the eggs were terrible. They only offer scrambled and they seemed like powedered. Miss the french toast I can order on Princess.

 

I. New Years Eve: They had a balloon drop in the Royal Prominade. It was so crowded. This is an accident waiting to happen. I witnessed a few confrontations from people bumping into each other. I really do not know why they do not control how many people are allowed in this area. Otherwise it was a blast. Other venues were understaffed so bar service was poor. You would think they would step up their staff on New Years Eve.

 

J. Fellow Passengers: I am Italian and my wife is Puerto Rican (from the mainland). I have read many complaints regarding Puerto Ricans on this ship. I can testify that there are alot of spanish speaking guests. So much that I feel english is the second language. Yes, many larger families are traveling together and can be a bit loud. A quiet area on the deck or other area is suddenly violated by loud spanish speaking people, unconcerned that they have interupted your solitude. Although this has happened on Florida cruises with Americans I feel it is a little bit more pronounced in PR. I did not experience wild teens as on other cruises.

 

K. Entertainment: I am not into musicals but being married means I have to please my wife by accompanying her to these shows. I can say the singers were good. The comedians were not.

 

L. Ports of Call: Visited Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, and St. Thomas. Would like to stay a few more hours in port. The islands are so close we generally traveled only 7 knots during the evening. Longer port times would allow for more relaxed shore days.

 

So in a nut shell I enjoyed my cruise. I would like to see RCCL do better in the areas of: increasing deck chairs, increasing the times you can grab a bite, improve on their breakfast room service, and step up their MDR menu, add an hour or two to port times. Thanks for reading my review.

[yogimax]

Thanks for your review! I agree, in general, about comedians. They are not very good. Glad to hear MTD worked out for you, although I've been told the 7-7:30PM time is peak.

[wolfcathorse]

did you have Capt Gronhaug as master?

[CruisinManiac]

Those same old "Holiday Inn" deck chairs also were a bit worn and IMHO need changing to something more upscale.

 

I happen to like the older chairs better than the new ones. With back problems, the strappy chairs are more comfortable to me.;) However, my comfort (reading and napping, too!) was interrupted a few times by loud groups of Spanish speaking people when we were on our AOS cruise. My Dh and I joked that no matter where we decided to relax (and no one else would be around us,) the large family groups would find us and stand around us like we were not even there. :D It was quite comical.