AOS comparison to M Class

[joelmarj]

I just returned from my first trip on an RCCL ship - The Adventure of the Seas. My prior cruise experience (excluding one Carnival Triumph) has been on the M Class ships of Celebrity.

 

A little background. I do like the product Celebrity offers. It meets the expections of the two of us when cruising. We enjoy formal seatings for dinner, dressing for dinner every night and don't need to be entertained 24x7. That being said, I did my research and chose RCCL because I was cruising now with my two teenage boys. I felt it would be a good compromise as they needed to be able to stay active, without giving up things like dinner seatings, formal night, etc. The AOS offered things like rock walls, mini-golf, etc.

 

Overall, we were quite pleased with the ship, crew and food. I will say, that should I sail with my kids again, I would likely pick this class of ship again with RCCL without hesitation.

 

Here are just a few of my comparisons and observations between my experiences on AOS vs. M Class:

 

Cabin - I've always had at least a concierge class on M. On RCCL I had a D1 (Deluxe Veranda). CC class is 191 sq ft - D1 is 173. WOW, what a difference 18 sq ft makes. It was pretty tight for 3 of us, but manageable. I would not do smaller. Overall the cabin on the AOS was nicely appointed. The mattresses were ok with egg crates but I know they are getting replaced. I did find that there was not enough drawer space and my one son had to live out of his suitcase. The few drawers that were there, were quite small. I did not feel that way in the M cabins. The shower in the D1 was TINY! WOW, we made jokes about it being the teleporter from Star Trek. The good thing though is that it is doors and not a curtain. Celebrity wins for overall size but they use curtains. Just an added note, my SO was in a PR cabin with his mom. It can't even come close to being compared to what we are used to due to its tiny 161 sq ft size. It was a nice cabin, but very small for two adults. It is however a very nice option to an inside, when you don't want to feel quite so "claustrophobic". We knew this going into it, but given the bargain price booked it intentially.

 

Food - this is always subjective. We are from NY and dine in fine restaurants frequently. We do, however understand that diningrooms on ships are cooking for 2000-3000 people at once. Given that, we were actually pleasantly surprised by the quality of food on the AOS in comparison to Celebrity. We really were pleased with the choices and quality. I even liked the menus they used. Desserts were very good, even the sugar-free ones. I give AOS and M Class pretty close nods in the food catagory in the diningroom. The buffet area however on the AOS is pure CAOS! We stopped going there because it was so unruly. The food was pretty good, but my kids hated the eggs. Celebrity seems more civilized in their buffet area. So the buffet nod goes to Celebrity.

 

Staff - the wait staff and room steward were attentive, pleasant, engaging and knowledgeable. The only issue I had was that they seemed very rushed. I think if we were at late seating, it may have been different. Speaking of Late Seating, this was my biggest staff complaint. The Maitre de' was HORRIBLE. Just an unpleasant and cold person. We could not even get him to smile. We tried to change to late seating, and while it may not have been available, he was not in the least bit caring or apologetic. Just not the attitude you would expect from someone in this position. The rest of the staff throughout the ship was all very pleasant, but we never got that sense that they really did care. It just seems so much more genuine on Celebrity. Many people know your name and greet you warmly. No one was unpleasant (except as noted above), but it just was not the same. I was truely impressed by the Captains visibility. He was frequently found walking around the Royal Promanade or in the diningroom. I actually met him while buying a bingo ticket. He was quite charming and very pleasant to speak with. I really appreciated his visibility. Celebrity gets the overall nod with regard to the genuine pleasantness of the staff, but kudos to the AOS Captain for being a visible presence.

 

Ship - overall I was very impressed by the ship itself. I thought it was very nicely appointed with many things that reminded me of the M class (including the artwork!). The spa and gym are larger and a much nicer layout, however the spa is on the inside track of the promonade; so when you are getting a massage, you can hear people jogging by. The Solarium is very nice and compares nicely to the M Class T Pool. I did miss, however the Spa food you get on M. The Royal Promanade was really very nice as well. The Theater was nice, but had a lot of obstructed seating. Overall, we still like the M Class size and overall layout, but the AOS was very nicely laid out and decorated.

 

Crowds - This is probably where we felt the biggest difference. In both the buffet area and the pool we felt every bit of the 3000+ passengers on the AOS. It is a bigger ship than the M Class, but the ratio of space per person could really be felt in these two areas. It was really painful to deal with. We really do like the proportions of the M Class. Staff and space to passenger ratios are really more preferrable to me.

 

Overall, Celebrity is still our first choice for cruising we love the product and think they deliver what meets our expectations. Because I was sailing with my kids, I think RCCL delivered a good product and it met our needs. I would not hesitate to sail them again with my kids, but we will continue to sail Celebrity when just my SO and I are sailing.

 

Feel free to ask more specific questions, but again - there are all just my observations.

[judyfssw]

Nice review and seemed objective. I've always felt that Royal Caribbean was more family oriented and plan to bring our grandchildren and their parents on RC for an Alaskan cruise.