Been on Sovereign lately?

[EydieG]

I'm in the process of planning a short fall-break cruise in October. Has anyone been on the Sovereign lately? As you can see, we have been on her twice in the past and had a great time both times. However, my son and daughter-in-law went last September and were disappointed. Son was with us the second trip so he has been before. He said it was so rocky and many people were sea sick (time of year I know), but also things like the shows were scheduled weird. You could either do dinner or a show not both like in the past.

Thanks for any advice.

[Bufordite]

I was on this past weekend and it was perfect. We got to see the shows and do dinner with no problems.

[karena1]

We go on her every year, last year went the weekend of Oct 6th, normally go over Labor Day. We never had a problem with shows. We do late dinner and we were able to make any shows we wanted. Last Oct the water was so calm you could have waterskiied on it. Just depends on the weather and if there are storms out there or not. She is a great ship for a short cruise to the Bahamas. We enjoy getting away for the few days and will keep going on her every year until they retire her.

 

Go and have a great time.

[firefly333]

Im on SOV Sept 24th, my first time on her. Im hoping we have good weather, but there is never any guarantees.

[kccrzr]

We used visa points for a free cruise on the Sovereign in March. The crew was great but the ship had less amenities than we are used to on other RCI ships and was a bit run down. The seas were very choppy - 14-15' high waves so we could not tender to CocoCay. Overall the experience was ok but not great. Frankly, with our vacation time at a premium, if this had been our first cruise it might have been our last. In future we will use our visa points to get $ off cruises we really want to take.

[realtreebar]

going first time the 21st of january hope for some first time fun!!

[Gator0178]

Here's a link to my very recent review. We were just on her last weekend! I miss it already.

 

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=28729

[batoryfirst]

Just got off the 4-night cruise this morning. Enjoyed it as much as we did on our 3-night in late Mar., early April.

Seas are always a bit rough the night you leave Port Canaveral. You have to get through that Gulf Stream. From then on it's fine. We even got to go to Coco Cay - Thursday rather than Tues. due to weather conditions. Captain changed Nassau to Wed. after our sea day on Tuesday. Thursday in Coco Cay was a beautiful day.

The entire staff was superb and the new cruise director, Mike is one of the best. I suspect he'll move up through the company very quickly. Carl Banks was the comedian that performed and was hilarious.

No question that it doesn't have the size and some of the "bells & whistles" that the larger ships have, but she didn't disappoint us. We had a great time and will sail her again.

[crsshiplover]

Hello, read the review that said you were off the ship at 7:50AM w/the express pass. Without that, how early do you think I can be off? I leave next Friday. I'm really looking forward to the long weekend away. I SO hope we get to do CocoCay and the waves cooperate for tendering. It's the highlight of my trip! Thanks.

[Gator0178]

crsshiplover,

 

Yes, I had an express pass. You can get one too. ALl you have to do is go to the guest relations desk and ask for one. Do it early though. They are on a first come first serve basis. They don't cost anything. :)

[crsshiplover]

I thought maybe it had something to do with how many times you'd sailed w/them before. That is great news! I'm renting a car and plan to park at the port, so I should be on the ship in good time! Will certainly request one!!!

[Gator0178]

If you are renting a car, why are you parking at the port? It will cost you $12/day to park. Why don't you rent a car one way from orlando (MCO) to port canaveral? I use Avis since I work for them. You pay about $30 for a one way rental each way. Rather than $30/day for a rental for the entire length of your cruise plus the parking fee! Plus Avis runs a free shuttle to and from the port from their location. It is definitely the way to go.

[crsshiplover]

I did one-way rentals when I sailed in December, and I agree, it worked great. I was worried this time, though, since my flight back is 11:55AM. I was worried about waiting around for a shuttle and then waiting for a car if lines are long, etc. I probably should reconsider my plans, since one-way rentals have gone down a lot in price since I originally booked. When I first looked, it was cheaper to keep it the whole time and pay the parking, too.

[fendbass]

My wife and I were on a long weekend cruise, generally speaking the public areas were fine, clean and things ran smmothoy. Mike (what was his last name? I can't pronounce it), the cruise directior kept things mving along fine, the food and dining service was great.

 

We didn't bother getting off in Nassau (been there, done that), and found that Coco Cay was very crowded, since Majesty was also there. I wish there were more places where we could stay in the shade, I burn very easily

 

My only problem was the condition and layout of the cabin (9060), a deluxe Oceanview. The walls were scuffed and had black marks, and, in order for the inside person to get out of bed, the outside person had to get out first. The room steward, Jonathan, was very good, no problems there at all. Very big shower, by cruise ship standards

[Gator0178]

crsshiplover,

 

Like my review states, we called them at 7:50 am. They don't even open until 8am, yet they answered the phone and picked us up. Their busy days are Sat and Sun.. We were the only ones on the shuttle! You won't have any problems waiting for the shuttle.

[crsshiplover]

Okay, I'm really happy about this...I booked two one-ways now. Prices have come down quite a bit. I'll have to keep my eye out for the rental back to the airport--cheapest I could find is about $50. Still beats the rental and the parking fee, though. Just curious...what time did you get to the Port on the day of sailing?

 

Thanks so much for your reassurance on the getting of the ship in a timely manner and for encouraging the one-way rentals. (I ended up w/Thrifty for now, the Avis site is down.)

[crsshiplover]

One more question...is Avis drop off right at the airport terminal or is it offsite? Thanks.

[Gator0178]

I believe Avis is at the airport terminal in Orlando. I work for Avis in Tampa. So I am not 110%, buy I don't think Avis has any off airport locations. I don't know about Thrifty.

 

AS afar as when to get to the ship. The port opens at 11am for incoming passangers. You can wait in line with everyone else who wants to be one of the 1st ones on the ship, or you can get there about 12-12:15 and wait in no lines and walk right on the ship. We ahve done both. It is much nicer to wait in no lines walk right on the ship, go to the windjammer for lunch, and by the time you finish the rooms are ready at 1pm.

 

Have fun. I go on her again in Sept.

[crsshiplover]

I think I'm set to go! I know Thrifty is offsite, so I'll probably change the return rental to Avis. Oh, if I could only live so close to a port! I'm jealous.

[dagadget]

Here's a link to my very recent review. We were just on her last weekend! I miss it already.

 

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=28729

 

 

Thanks for the nice review. We are going to be in a JS 1564 for our next cruise, a reward for our youngest son for doing so well in school after having major ear surery and flunking one grade due to this lack of hearing. he has since made up the class and will graduate on time... So he gets a cruise with mom and dad......:D

[veryhotred]

We just took this cruise 5/7..the four nighter and took our two kids, we all LOVED it!! However we did not get to Cococay...the captain made the decision on Tuesday not to go. Not sure how he could determine so early that we couldn't make it on Thursday but we didn't get to go. The sea was very rough the first night but after that it was fine. We would take this cruise again! The food was good too and the service was great! The only other complaint was the stinky sewer smell, we had cabin #9568, a SOV, and the smell was swful! It started in the hallway as you headed towards our room and then in our bathroom was the worst. We left the lid down on the toilet and that helped a lot. The shower was nicely sized although I think I had one hot shower the entire time..lol..like I said, we would take this cruise again, nothing was "that bad"...

[dagadget]

We just took this cruise 5/7..the four nighter and took our two kids, we all LOVED it!! However we did not get to Cococay...the captain made the decision on Tuesday not to go. Not sure how he could determine so early that we couldn't make it on Thursday but we didn't get to go. The sea was very rough the first night but after that it was fine. We would take this cruise again! The food was good too and the service was great! The only other complaint was the stinky sewer smell, we had cabin #9568, a SOV, and the smell was swful! It started in the hallway as you headed towards our room and then in our bathroom was the worst. We left the lid down on the toilet and that helped a lot. The shower was nicely sized although I think I had one hot shower the entire time..lol..like I said, we would take this cruise again, nothing was "that bad"...

 

Did this problem last the entire time? Or did it get fixed? Last year we had a little bit of the same problem on Millennium but it was only ocassional and not around our CC 9038. It has been a few years since her last yard period and dry dock and that is when most of these problems get fixed. Anyway I am glad you had a great cruise :D No Coco Cay for you either. I am beginning to think this place is a myth :rolleyes:

[veryhotred]

Did this problem last the entire time? Or did it get fixed? Last year we had a little bit of the same problem on Millennium but it was only ocassional and not around our CC 9038. It has been a few years since her last yard period and dry dock and that is when most of these problems get fixed. Anyway I am glad you had a great cruise :D No Coco Cay for you either. I am beginning to think this place is a myth :rolleyes:

 

LOL yea me too on the Coco Cay thingy...all the cruises before and after ours MADE IT to Coco Cay!!! I think they made the decision too early in the week that we would not go but hey, I am not the captain.

The smell was the entire time!! We even smelled it as we were getting back on board in Nassau! But yes, you would smell it throughout the cruise in our hallway, in our bathroom.

[dagadget]

LOL yea me too on the Coco Cay thingy...all the cruises before and after ours MADE IT to Coco Cay!!! I think they made the decision too early in the week that we would not go but hey, I am not the captain.

The smell was the entire time!! We even smelled it as we were getting back on board in Nassau! But yes, you would smell it throughout the cruise in our hallway, in our bathroom.

 

 

It is going to be interesting to see if that smell is a problem or not next March. Going to have to see if that has been a problem on deck 10 as well. If I make it to coco cay I'll take pictures for you ;)

[kicker]

I remember a skit from early Saturday Night Live shows: a woman has friends over and her house smells like fish, so the next visit the friends bring a six foot tall tube of roll-on air freshener. Does anyone from RCCL read these posts? This problem is mentioned so often I can no longer consider it a minor problem. I'll be on Sovereign early July, and this has me a bit worried.