Sovereign 4/18-4/22 review

[Kteacher]

Just got back late last night from the Sovereign. This was my 4th time on this ship, and first time since the refurbishment. This will be a quick review, and if you have any questions, please ask :)

 

Embarkation: My flight didn't arrive into MCO until 1:00 p.m., and the transfer bus was held up waiting for another group of passengers, so I didn't arrive to the pier until almost 3:00 p.m. There were no lines, and it took about 5 minutes to board the ship. I dropped my carry-on in my stateroom, and went to the Windjammer before they closed down. I just grabbed something very quick as I was meeting my traveling companions. We watched the sail away, then went to the 4:30 Muster drill.

 

Cabin: We were in 1074, a JS on deck 10. The cabin was very clean. The newly added balcony had a very large lip at the floor level, so be careful ! Our cabin steward was great, the room was always set up for us exactly at the time we needed it to be. Soundproofing is not as good as the newer ships, and we heard lots of feet running on the pool deck above us.

 

Ship : I guess my expectations for the refurbishment were high. There is no hiding the fact that the Sovereign is old. While everything was kept very clean, I really didn't notice any remarkable transformations. The rock wall that was added blocks a good portion of the view from the Viking Crown :( I am also sorry to say that there is definitely a sewage odor on the lower decks. The Windjammer was expanded to include a Sorrento's pizza an Johnny Rocket's on the upper level. We had a long wait at Johnny Rocket's, so our waiter didn't charge us for anything ( we had one coupon for a waiver of the 3.95 surcharge, and we ordered fountain drinks ) The food is good here, but is really filling!!!

 

Food : We had Main seating in the Mirage dining room . Our wait staff was great, but I still wish the cruise line would bring back the sommeliers in the dining rooms. Our waiter couldn't help me with any wine selections, and didn't know anything about the wines that were listed as chef recommendations :( The food was good every night, but the coffee in the dining room is still horrible! Dress was very casual- I noticed that other than formal night many people wore jeans and shorts in the dining room at dinner. I saw lots of baseball hats being worn during dinner as well ( sorry, I just don't think it's polite to wear a baseball hat during dinner in a dining room ). We went to the midnight buffet, which had lots of great offerings. Snacks were also passed in the lounges at midnight on the other nights, and these were really good.

 

Staff : Excellent as always :)

 

Other stuff :) : We made it to Coco Cay! It was a beautiful day at the beach. Tendering was well organized and we were on the beach by 9 :30 . The BBQ lunch was great. Nassau was also nice. We took a cab to Breezes- there is a coupon in one of the information books in the Nassau Welcoming building for 10.00 off per couple, which brought the price down to 55.00 . We took the #10 bus there and back for 1.00 each way. The hotel was well staffed, clean, and the beach was really nice. The 55.00 includes all your beverages and food for the day. We went to the Atlantis after dinner- this is a beautiful hotel! I wish we had more time to spend here ( I actually won in the casino! ). The chair hogs were out in full force on the at sea day, and we also noticed the hot tubs were full of small unattended children all day, every day of the cruise. Many of these kids had googles on, and some were diving to the bottom of the hot tub =0 -not safe!!! There were a lot of kids on this sailing, and for the most part they were well behaved. There was the usual pressing of all the buttons in the elevators. Unfortunately, Thursday night someone broke off one of the buoys on deck 7 and threw it overboard. The light was seen by a passenger, and the ship had to stop and do a search for the light. After the buoy was recovered we had to muster to make sure all were accounted for. This was aboot 9:30 p.m., and the whole process took about an hour. Announcements with updates were made for about 2 hours after the mustering was complete. The staff was extremely efficient during the mustering. We were told that a child or children had thrown the buoy overboard as a prank. As far as I know they never found out who the culprits were. We also had to divert to Freeport on Thursday afternoon due to a sick passenger, and there was an announcement made that the ship was going to arrive back in Port Canaveral early due to another sick passenger, but I'm not sure what happened as we arrived at the regular time.

 

Entertainment: We loved the latin band in Bloeros. The only shows we made it to were on Thursday night, which were interrupted by the mustering.

 

Debarkation: We had early debarkation, and were off the ship and reunited with our luggage by 8:00 a.m. It was a long travel day for me back to Massachusetts due to weather delays in Atlanta ( I didn't get home until 11:00 p.m.! ) .

 

So....... I might do this cruise again if the price were right. It's a good trip for a first time cruiser. The ship is definitely showing it's age, though, and after being on a newer ship you may be disappointed.

[danajjj]

Thanks for the review. We leave on her on Friday and are really looking forward to it. Sorry you had to muster during the middle of your cruise. How frustrating when it's all due to a prank!

 

I'm glad you were able to make it to Coco Cay. I hope we do too. Could you tell me how they organize the tendering? Do you get a ticket? If so, should you go down early to get an early tender over?

[PH8]

No tender tickets............you just wait in line.............

[spammie]

Sounds like you had a good time. My sister was on the Sovereign the weekend before you and she said the seas were very rough and they couldn't go to Coco Cay.

[Kteacher]

They don't issue tender tickets anymore. We walked down and were able to get on a tender with about a 5 minute wait. I was very happy to go to Coco Cay- in 4 trips on the Sovereign this was only the 2nd time we've made it to Coco Cay. It is really a beautiful beach :)

[Wolfman994]

Are there charges for using the climbing wall and are reservations needed?

 

We leave to go on our first cruise on May 9 and chose the Sovereign because of the price and refurbishment. Hope it is as much fun as I hear.

[PH8]

Hi Wolf!!

 

I know there is no charge for the rock wall.........cant help with the other part since I was never brave enough,but I dont think so..............they just have open times for the climbing............

[Cruising89143]

Thanks for the review. I will be on the Sovereign next Friday. I hope that the seas are calm so that we can make it to Coco Cay.

[PH8]

Gordon.............You'll have company!!:) Check it out..........

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=3575379#post3575379

[maggieworkman]

Do you have any of the Compasses?

 

Thanks.

Maggie

[James&Rob]

Hello

 

I will be on the sovereign may 2 this will be my first cruise on RCI I keep reading about a sewage smell on lower decks what decks?? and also do they have like a drink of the day at a lower price like carnival and Hal does. do they have a big deck party? and a big sail away thanks for the Imfo James

[PH8]

I personally have never encountered "the smell" everyone talks about.of course,that doesnt mean there isnt one............

 

They do have drinks of the day at a lower price.............

 

Yes,there is a sailaway party.........with music and dancing on the pool deck...........right after muster drill...............

 

There is a Caribbean midnight deck party the night you are in Nassau.....more music and dancing along with a super buffet with roast pig,salads,mexican foods,desserts,etc...............and of course drinks galore inc a pineapple one where they cut out the inside of a pineapple and fill it with one of 4(?) drinks,like rumrunner,pina colada,etc.......

[Kteacher]

The sewage smell was very prominent on decks 1 and 2. On our sailing the muster drill was at 4:30, so the sailaway party was before the sail away party. The midnight caribbean buffet is held on the night the ship is in Nassau. Maggie- I have a few Compasses- what info are you looking for :)

[PH8]

so the sailaway party was before the sail away party.

HUH??:confused:

 

 

Hey,do you have the first day compass??If so,what time is the maitre de there to change dining assignments??

[Kteacher]

oops! I mean the sail away was before the Muster! That's what happens after you spend 12 hours in airports- your brain gets fried :) I can't find my Compass from day 1- sorry :(

[PH8]

The sailaway party was before muster and before you sailed away??? Thats weird.......:confused:

[Cruising89143]

Gordon.............You'll have company!!:) Check it out..........

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=3575379#post3575379

 

From the looks of it we are going to have a full ship.

[Cruising89143]

Gordon.............You'll have company!!:) Check it out..........

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=3575379#post3575379

 

From the looks of it we are going to have a full ship.

[srlucado]

My wife and I will be on the Sovereign October 10th. Thanks for the review!

[laurasue]

Thanks for the review! We can't wait for our cruise on her next month... hoping we make it to Coco Cay! :D

[Emmabelle]

Just back yesterday from the April 18 cruise, spent the weekend in Disney.

 

 

 

Parrothead, we changed our dining times with the Maitre D. Try and go and see him as soon as you board, we didn't go until 1:00pm and there was already quite a few people waiting, it took over 45 minutes to see him, but they did change our seating time from late to early without a problem.

 

 

 

Laurasue,

 

How about the announcements at midnight on the fourth night for certain passengers to call guest relations, we were sound asleep in our cabin and were ready to scream by the time the third one occurred.

 

I did smell the sewer smell, it was like smelling a baby with a dirty diaper on, but it was brief and I only smelled it a few times during the cruise, on the lower decks.

 

I liked the food, I did order somethings that were fair, but overall it was good.

 

I too was very irratated by the chair hogs on sea day, by 8:00am all the good seats were held around the pool, I was so tempted to get a crew member to move some towels for me, but instead I went and froze on the upper deck chairs. :mad:

 

We had a good time and next time would like to try a bigger ship for a longer time. :)