Just Back from Sovereign 7/3-7/7

[aloanldy]

We sailed with RCCL for the first time! There are some major differences than sailing on Celebrity!

 

We booked an outside cabin deck 3 one of the least expensive outside cabins, which was small but fine. That ship was first put in service in 1988 and refurbished in 2004. The service was good,I won't say great because it seemed like some of the staff had a bit of a "it's a short cruise what do you expect" kind of attitude. (Never had this on the 2 nighter with Celebrity)

Our Grandsons were in 3616 and there was an awful smell right outside their door that didn't go away the whole cruise. It smelled like raw sewage. We did complain and they said they'd fix the problem but it never was fixed. We did not smell any other odors on the ship at all.

 

The bar staff was great!

 

The first night in the dining room, the service was really slow and the waitress seemed to have a bit of an attitude, the asst. waiter spilled one of our table mates drinks right on her lap (strawberry daiquiri). The waitress handed her a napkin but the asst waiter never even apologized. The rest of the days the service in the dining room was much better, not sure what was going on the first night, but by the last night we had the waitress laughing. (Never had a bad experience with the wait staff on Celebrity)

 

The cabin stewart never came by to introduce herself, which I thought was odd, we did see her often and she'd call us by name but I don't know who she was because she never said. She did a great job. (Celebrity's staff introduces themselves as you get into your cabin and always speaks to you using your names)

 

I will say on Sovereign, I was disappointed in the bars around on the pool deck and the deck above the pool deck, they don't have any bar stools it's just a stand up bar, which I didn't really care for. The bartenders said because it's people just getting drinks and going back to their chairs, but that's not the case with us. (My hubby usually hangs at the pool bars, it makes it easy for me to find him)

 

We will cruise Royal Caribbean again, it was a great cruise. I just notice some difference between them and Celebrity and they sure aren't Celebrity.

 

Food - We had good food in the dining room, and good food in the Windjammer cafe. We ate all of our dinners in the dining room and had breakfast and lunch in the windjammer. The made to order omelets are the best for breakfast!

 

The ship looks good! She's well maintained. The staff was constantly vacuuming and polishing the ship.

 

Nassau was fun, we spent too much time in Senor Frogs!! Word of advice for the people cruising, in Nassau i'm not sure they have a drinking age. Our grandsons 15 & 16 were able to purchase liquor at the liquor stores and were served in Senor Frogs without parents being present. Actually that's where we found them at the bar sheetfaced!

 

Coco Cay is always beautiful, I enjoy that little Island.

Nassau's straw market was very crowded and hot. It's hard to walk thru the narrow Aisles without feeling suffocated. They do have great buys on the "knock off" purses like Louie, Prada, Coach. etc.

 

If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them if I can.

 

 

Charlie

[lv2cruisgrl]

Thanks for the update, we cruise on the 17th. How was formal night? How was the dress in the dining room, was it very casual?

[aloanldy]

Surprisingly Formal night was pretty dressy. Most men wore Suits or Tuxedos. Women wore cocktail dresses or gowns. I half expected that most people wouldn't adhere to formal night since it was only a 4 night, but they actually did. There were some ladies in dresses that weren't fancy, they didn't look out of place at all.

 

You'll have fun!!!

[wolfcathorse]

Did you have Capt Brearly as your captain? We never experienced any of the disappointments you experienced. It could be your wait staff was on their first contract. We had a waitress that was painfully slow, but her ass't waiter, who was on his first contract on a cruiseship ever, was superb. I hope you wrote your observations on the comment cards as they do read them and this is how promotions/demotions are handed out.

[rolloman]

A Toyota isnt a Lexus either. Not really sure its fair to compare the oldest ship in RCI Fleet to any Ship they own in their luxury class portfolio "Celebrity". From past experience one can experience your issues noted above on any line any given day.

[tntcruise]

I was on the Soverigns sister ship, Majesty of the Seas, 4 times and each time I smelled sewage on the lower decks.

[Cruising89143]

I was on the Soverigns sister ship, Majesty of the Seas, 4 times and each time I smelled sewage on the lower decks.

 

I have smelled that sewage smell on other ships myself and they were not on RCI ships. It seems to be a common problem on all lines.

[bethaniesmom]

my favorite is the RCL Explorer...but we have tried Celebrity too, and I guess Zenith just didn't live up to all I had heard about Celebrity...but that didn't keep us from having a wonderful cruise! I guess each cruise is a little different and make for a different experience each time we go out! Guess that's why we just keep going back! Gonna try the Sovereign for a short Labor Day trip, never did a short cruise before so we are really looking forward to this one!

 

Beverly

[Merion_Mom]

I have smelled that sewage smell on other ships myself and they were not on RCI ships. It seems to be a common problem on all lines.

And the staff has been famously overheard to say that passengers putting things in the toilets/flushing things down the toilets that don't belong there CLOG and BACK UP the sewage system. THIS is what causes the odor.

 

Blame it on your fellow inconsiderate/illiterate/heedless fellow passengers.

[sag1804]

I am excited to go on this one in September! Senor Frogs is where I will be headed. :D How is cococay? We shall see when I get back. :D

[lv2cruisgrl]

Surprisingly Formal night was pretty dressy. Most men wore Suits or Tuxedos. Women wore cocktail dresses or gowns. I half expected that most people wouldn't adhere to formal night since it was only a 4 night, but they actually did. There were some ladies in dresses that weren't fancy, they didn't look out of place at all.

 

You'll have fun!!!

 

Thanks, that will be perfect as my husband always wears a tux and myself a gown. We love dressing up but were afraid the rest of the ship wouldnt be. Sounds like it will be just fine. We also always dress smart casual in the dining room on other nights, hope others did also.:D

[aloanldy]

Coco Cay is Beautiful if you like a beach. It's their private island so it's a big cookout and beach stuff. There is some vendors selling their stuff, but not pushy like the Bahama's so it's pleasant. I really enjoy Coco cay.

 

Sag - You will love Senor Frogs!

 

Merion- I don't believe it's all inconsiderate passengers putting things down the toilet. This appeared to be a open sewage problem, My step son opened the closet near their room and it was not contained.

 

Bethaniesmom - I know Zeniths is one of the older ships, just like Sovereign. We also still had a great time. I'm not sure there is really a horrible cruise. Although we did try Carnival twice and we did have bad experiences both times that we won't do them again even if they were free tickets.

 

Rolloman - just for the record, I wasn't criticizing, just noting the differences. Being my first RCCI cruise. If I did a review comparing Carnival to RCCL it would have been totally different experience also.

 

Wolfcathorse - I don't believe that was our captain. I also don't think our Waitress was new as she was leaving with us to go on her vacation for 2 months back to Romania. Her asst. was also from Romania.

 

I'll restate, it wasn't a bad cruise and we'll cruise RCCL again. We actually had a great time!!

[wolfcathorse]

Aloanldy - If you didn't have Capt Richard Brearly then did you have Capt Vidar Solem? Those are the 2 assigned to Sovereign as far as I know

[aloanldy]

My stepson said it was Richard Brearly. He went to the captains party.