sovereign of the seas review--4-12/4/16/04

[flaboy]

this is our 2nd time on this ship.so just a few things to say before i break down our trip..the food in the dining room was so much better than our cruise in june 2003.i said that to our waiter and he said that so many people were complain about the food and eating in the windjammer that the dining staff were not making that much money that something had to be done.and they did it..everything was great.
traveling with me and my wife was our 4yo son and her grand parents,it will be her grand parents 1st cruise.

monday..
well we sarted out for our very long drive to the ship..about 40 mins away for us.rainy windy and not the way to start out our vacation.we left our house at about 1030 am and were on the ship at about 12pm.we needed to be a little earlier to mis all the bus"s coming in.but we had to wait for my wife grand parents to meet us.sp we waited in line for about 20 mins before getting on.we went directly to our cabin on the 9th floor #9008,we stayed in these cabins on our last cruise in june as well,we pick them because they are bigger and they have a bath tub for the 4 yo and wife,see hates showers.our room was in great shape as weel as the entire ship.our room stewart was edison,he did a great job,always very attentive and polite,always saying hi to us and playing with our son every time he was around.we then took my wifes grand parents to there cabin,they were in#4505 inside cabin.it was small but they knew this.but it was ok for the 2 of them.
since the weather was so bad we went up to the vicking crown lounge to have a drink and let our son play up there while it wasn't to crowded.
weather cleared up a bit and wondered around the ship for awhile watch us sail away from the port,then got ready for dinner.we had main seating in the gigi dining room table #16,what a great table for us,right next to a window,a table for 8.we sat with a very nice family from North Carolina,they had a 8 yo son and a 13 yo daughter with them,so there kids helped entertain and play with our 4 yo at dinner.we sat the kids together next to the window so they could play on the ledge.they were the best table mates anyone could have.and this was the first time our son actually sat through dinner all 4 nights.Our wait staff was great.our waiter claudio was great.and our asst waitier was new and did a fine job.they took care our our table and our son like you could not believe.every night when we went to dinner they had crayons waiting for my son to play with,his chocolete milk waiting.they made sure the got his food to hime and the other couples kids to them gefore the rest of us so they could play and keep them selved busy so we could eat at a relaxed pace.the food was GREAT so much better than in june 2003.
we did not go to any of the shows so I can't comment on them, but my wifes grand parents went to them and had a great time.
the casino was great,dealers and staff were very polite.i did notice a trend in the casino that is changing,their were not any English dealers anymore,on our june cruise just about all the dealers and staff were from england.and not as nice.most now are from canada and costa rica.to me it made for a better time more interaction with the staff.

Tues,my wife and i were awoken by an amazing lighting show out our window at around 4am.then we noticed the rain blowing side ways,then we noticed the large swells and white caps in the water.then there it was!!!Coco Cay...then about 2 hours later we watched Coco Cay leave..at about 7am the captian came over the loud speaker that we were not going to make it today and would head straight to Nassau...that sucked.
i had heard later that day that about 2-3 weeks ago that they made it to coco cay and towards the end of the day the winds and waves and a bad rain storm came in and stranded about 800 people on the island for more than 3 hours in the rain because the seas and storm got to bad to tender them in and had to wait till the storm past.that did not sound like fun to me.

we made it Nassau at about 5pm. went to dinner and then went to senor frogs after dinner with som other people...had a great time.

wed.Nassau..still...
aweful weather...30-40mph winds cold,with some rain.did some shopping and that was about it..all excursions were cancelled.this night was the formal night and was very pleased with the amount of people dressed up.food was outstanding.

thurs we tried again to go to coco cay..still to windy and seas were to rough to make it so the captian tried to find some sun for everyone.never really found any,when he did it was so windy could not really go out to enjoy it,it was a very cold wind.

friday was a breeze getting off the ship we were off by about 9am.

i know this is not the best review,but i hope it helps someone..i will try to answer any questions anyone has.

just a few things i want to comment on----

for everyone going on this ship that have never been and have read some bad reviews...ignore them,this is a great ship,clean,great shape,and the crew is the best.we like it so much that we will be going again.
sailing in april is not the best time to sail.the weater is to unpredicable.
there we a lot of older kids on board(spring Break)that was not that bad of a thing..all the kids we saw were behaving and was so nice to see them dressed up at all dinners...better than some of the adults we saw.
the follies lounde was closed down so they changed some of the shows around.they had a water pipe breake the week befor and flooded everything and ruined all there electical and lighting systems.

all in all was a great trip and can't wait to go again.

[GinaDucey]

Thank you for your review. Will be leaving on 4/30 for this ship and am starting the bounce off the walls. I am glad you enjoyed yourself inspite of the weather. Yeah sometimes the weather moves in so fast and can keep you in. Thanks again!!!!

Fantasy 11/91
Ecstasy 1/98
Fascination 11/99
Paradise 2/00
Imagination 4/02
Ecstasy 5/03
Paradise 10/03
Sovereign of the Seas 4/04

[yarlenna]

Thank you for a great review. I have always loved Sovereign. Glad to hear that food is becoming a priority at RCI again. How about the cabin steward? Was he overworked, or able to provide the wonderful service RCI is famous for?
About your weather, the cold front blew through here too. I was really glad that I wasn't on vacation at the time. A lot of people think that Nassau is in the Caribbean and/or that it is tropical. It is not. It is just off Florida. The water around it is Atlantic and the climate is semi-tropical. Most of the time, that is good enough. Once in a while, it does get a little cold.

Work like a dog. Live like a pauper. Save all your money. Then Cruise!

[aqusis]

Sorry you had such bad weather, the Sovereign is my favorite ship and Coco Cay has to be the best place on Earth. Edison was our steward in October and I have to agree he was fantastic (and a cutie!). My DH was so sea sick the last day when we were at sea all day and he offered so many times to get him anything he needed.

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Mariner of the Seas

[joycepaula]

Thank you for your input. I am taking my first cruise on the Sovereign May 21-24. What are some of the good buys in Nassau? I would like to take a tour of Atlantis also. Do they do anything special for birthdays since mine is that weekend. My travel agent did indicate that. Once I heard the waiters will sing to you.

[camaj]

I am going on the Sovereign next week. I hope that Follies Lounge will be ready by then, i suppose you didn't hear anything about when it would be ready. No one else seems to have. How was the casino? I am sure we will be spending a good amount of time there, but hopefully not too much money. Did the slot machines payout pretty good? What kind of table games do they have?
I have checked the weather for next week and i think it should be okay, so hopefully we will get to go to CocoCay. I am really looking forward to that, but I have been reading reviews by many people saying they weren't able to get there due to weather. I'm glad you had a nice time. So jealous that you live so close.

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=228b22&cdt=2004;4;26;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
until our second cruise


Inspiration 5/03

[camaj]

One more question, do they have a free cruise as a prize in bingo as they do on some ships?

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until our second cruise


Inspiration 5/03