Sovereign in Review: Just Right

[CruiseFever]

We have sailed on small ships, medium size ships and huge ships on a number of different cruise lines. Of them all, Royal Caribbean's Sovereign of the Seas fits us the best. Here's why.

Port Canaveral, about an hour drive from Orlando International Airport, is one of the easiest ports to get in and out of. Compared to, say, Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale which is almost right across the street from the airport, transfers can be pricey. While not normally recommended, bus transfer of some sort can be one of your best values from the airport or surrounding areas. Another choice would be a one-way rental car with drop-off at close-by Cocoa Beach. We live within driving distance so we did that and parked a matter of steps away from the boarding area.

The Embarkation process at Port Canaveral is seamless and efficient. We arrived at the port at 10:00am to get an early start and were first in line and first on the ship at 11:45am. We like to get on early, take a tour of the ship, check our dining room table, have lunch, then head to our cabin to unpack.

Several cruises ago we decided NOT to check any luggage, opting to carry it all on and off the ship, bypassing porters on both ends and waiting to win the color group lottery to even begin disembarkation. A lot of study and research went into picking the luggage we would use. We ended up with flight crew style luggage. (Thinking: "Those people that fly around all the time probably know about that stuff") This style of luggage is long but narrow enough to fit through an xray machine. On a short cruise two people can easily share one. Soft-sided, they're easy to store under a bed in the cabin too.

Our spacious Junior Suite, cabin 1088, provided one of the best cabin experiences we've had to date. I liked the oversized balcony compared to some of the others we've enjoyed. The layout is much like a Mini-suite on Princess with a slight division between the two spaces making up the stateroom. I also liked the location on deck ten.

The cabin was located right around the corner from the ship's aft elevators, one deck down from open deck space and a few floors down from the Viking Crown Lounge located on deck 14 and right off the aft end of the Casino Royale on deck 5.

Other features: Great bed with all the trimmings. Nice little refrigerator stocked with basic soft drinks and water, So-so towels (if I had these at home I would be demoting them to "rag" status in the near future). Tons of storage, easily enough for four, with just two we were in heaven.

Our cabin steward was invisibly efficient and great at taking good care of the cabin and us. There's really nothing spectacular to report there: the guy did a great job, we NEVER had to wait for our room to be cleaned...he paid attention.

Our cabin was not the only physical feature of the ship we liked either.

This was the first ship that was "stretched" to give more public space, staterooms (especially the popular balconies), and provide the time to give the ship a good makeover. I think the stretch made all the difference in the world. This ship is right up to date with all the bells and whistles WE need for a great cruise.

If you want to ice skate, surf or take a stroll down the inside mall, this is not the ship for you. But the Sovereign does have all the other elements, just not so spread out.

Food was very good. Of special note are the bakery goods. They really do a good job on those here. In addition, the re-worked Windjammer Cafe offers a lot of choices.

But on this sailing our focus was on the dining room.

On a previous sailing we tried something different. We did not eat in the dining room at all. I remember writing here how impressed I was with the buffet service especially at night.

But wow, what a difference between buffet-only and dining room as much as possible. They really do a good job on this ship in the dining room. At the end of the cruise when it came time to pass out tip envelopes to the Assistant Waiter, Waiter and Head Waiter, they all deserved it.

Sometimes I don't think they do.

I don't buy this old like that "well the head waiter is behind the scenes making sure everything is going well" Oh baloney, I never did believe that and this cruise proved me right. On this sailing all of them were all over the place all the time making sure everything was right. They didn't miss a beat.

I think it is safe to say that this would be the experience for others as well. I saw other dining room service teams showing the same advanced level of service. Let's put it this way: The dining room service on the Queen Mary 2 was not NEAR as good as on the Sovereign of the Seas. No contest; not even close.

What WAS a close call would be which was better: the food or the service. Lisa picked the food and I agree (duh) but the service wasn't far behind.

Entertainment? I still say the same guy books all the entertainment for all the cruise ships. Probably not a bad thing, just an observation as they all seems so similar. One of the cool entertainment highlights I liked was the television programming.

Royal Caribbean is way ahead of the others in this area, much like Celebrity but even better. On Celebrity we see Cirque Du Soliel performances; here we have the "CBS Eye On Royal Caribbean" with specific and exclusive programming for the cruise line. "Been in the theatre but not quite to the video store" movies like "Superman Returns" were a good idea too. I wish I'd had more time to check out other offerings but on a cruise, TV is pretty much just something I use to kill time with while waiting for DW to get dressed or something.

Overall this was a very nice cruise, good crew and entertainment staff, great food and company, nobody fell off it and the Captain didn't sink it.

[Cruising89143]

Nice review Chris but one thing, the Sovereign has not been stretched. She did receive a total revitalization in December of 04 with balcony cabins being added. The only ship in the "current" fleet that has been stretched is the Enchantment.

[CruiseFever]

Nice review Chris but one thing, the Sovereign has not been stretched. She did receive a total revitalization in December of 04 with balcony cabins being added. The only ship in the "current" fleet that has been stretched is the Enchantment.

 

Indeed: poor word choice, thanks

 

To be more specific; balconies were added to 62 already existing suites, dining selections were expanded with the addition of Sorentos plus Ben and Jerrys and a rework of the Windjammer Cafe and the two main dining rooms, blah blah blah

 

But help me out here. Which Royal Caribbean ship was it I saw the TV special on where they were doing all this work, (I thought they were) making the ship longer by cutting it in half and sticking a section in the middle....like on the Travel Channel or TLC? It had a big clock like Sovereign does and they weren't sure they could get it to work?

[Cruising89143]

It was the Sovereign that you saw on TLC. It was a five part series but they did not cut her in half. RCI has now stretched three ships in the history of the company. The Nordic Prince, Song of Norway and Enchantment of the Seas.

[Merion_Mom]

Chris, you are conflating two videos in your head.

 

They cut the Enchantment in half and inserted a new midsection.

 

There is a multi-part TV show called Sovereign: A Cruise Ship Reborn which is all about the full renovation that the SOS underwent, including "will they get the clock to work before the deadline?"

 

:)

[EggDropErin]

Thanks for the great review! :)

[JTJ]

I agree that Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale is a mess, but it's better than Port of Miami. Been there once never again, despite the great prices. On a side note, notice the seawalls surrounding PE and the homes they protect. I've gone thru there in a small boat and it's like a washing machine, the swells hit the walls and bounce off then hit incoming swells. Not at all like a natural beach that absorbs the swell energy with a breaking wave.

[CruiseFever]

Chris, you are conflating two videos in your head.

 

They cut the Enchantment in half and inserted a new midsection.

 

There is a multi-part TV show called Sovereign: A Cruise Ship Reborn which is all about the full renovation that the SOS underwent, including "will they get the clock to work before the deadline?"

 

:)

 

 

Oh yes, there it is....thanks!

[Raynie]

We were also on this sailing, and I cann't say enough wonderful things about the ship, crew, service etc. Our cabins were on Deck 8 and while small as expected, they were perfectly manageable. The bedding was great, the cabins were spotless. Absolutely no sewer smell that I had read about in previous reviews. The cabin steward did an excellent job.

 

Our waiter and asst waiter were absolutely above and beyond perfect. Anthony from India and Angel from Peru. I was sad to have to say goodbye to them. They truely made it a wonderful dining experience.

 

The ship was beautiful all decorated for Christmas. I too have been on much larger ships, and still prefer this ship.

 

I honestly cannot come up with one negative remark about this ship and crew. It was a great time, and a great vacation.

[cruiseapril]

Good review. We were on the Sovereign this year and had a memorable cruise which exceeded our expectations. We especially liked the library and internet areas and the Viking Crown Lounge.

 

We also had exceptional waiters and the head waiter was very gracious. We enjoyed both the dining room and the Windjammer- loved the variety for lunch in the Windjammer.

[cruisin from florida]

Our first cruise with our boys (then 14, 16, and almost 18) was on the Sovereign. I agree about the headwaiters, too. Ours was Gerry, and he made every meal memorable. Best service from a headwaiter we've ever had. Just over a year later we went back for a couples cruise, (we were in 1086, and I completely agree with everything said about the location of the cabin - it was perfect!) and our headwaiter was excellent. Gerry was also there, and we took a picture with him to show the boys - they enjoyed him so much.

 

Our other cruises have been on the Explorer (3 cruises), the Enchantment, the Majesty and the Monarch. The Sovereign is a great smaller ship.

[clevercruiser]

There is a multi-part TV show called Sovereign: A Cruise Ship Reborn which is all about the full renovation that the SOS underwent, including "will they get the clock to work before the deadline?"

I only managed to catch the first couple of shows, so can someone

put me out of my misery - did they manage to get the clock fixed

in the end?

 

 

~ MARK ~

[Merion_Mom]

I only managed to catch the first couple of shows, so can someone

put me out of my misery - did they manage to get the clock fixed

in the end?

 

 

~ MARK ~

Yes and no, Mark. LOL. They got it to work before the deadline, so they didn't rip it out. But sometimes it is working, and sometimes it isn't.

 

Go on the Sovereign - they run the show on a continuous loop on one of the TV channels in your cabin. :D

[2boxers]

Not to change the subject...I love the Sovereign, going on my forth trip in February.

 

Is something going on at Port Everglades that makes it so difficult? I was there in October '05 and thought it was the easiest and quickest trip from an airport to cruise port. We paid $25 for a cab for four. Have only sailed out of Miami, Port Canaveral, and Port Everglades. I ask this as I was planning something out of PE in November, because of the ease of travel.

 

Thanks.

[Dawniepoo]

I was debating whether we were going to use the dining room on our next cruise, buy your review has made me rethink.. We will definitely use the dining room. Thanks:D

[luv2cruisemom]

We are in 1086 (and 1084) on the 1/2/07 sailing! I am so excited!

 

Patti

[finz2u]

We are sailing on Sovereign next Friday. Getting excited already. We were inspired to book the cruise by the TV show, so it is great to know I can watch it again on the ship.

 

Thanks for the review.

[CruiseFever]

We are in 1086 (and 1084) on the 1/2/07 sailing! I am so excited!

 

Patti

 

You are going to LOVE the location, so easy to get to so many things!

 

Bon Voyage!