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Copyright ©
1995-2003
Linda Coffman
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Sovereign
of the Seas
June 15, 2003
by Michelle McCarty
My husband, our fifteen-year-old daughter, and I
sailed on the Sovereign of the Seas to the Bahamas on
June 15, 2003. This was the first cruise for all of
us and we had such a wonderful time that we are ready
to go on another one whenever we can! Our family was also traveling with my friend,
her husband and their teenage daughter. My friend had
been on a couple of cruises in the past so she could
tell us some of the things to expect, and reading the
cruise reviews on this and some other sites helped us
all to familiarize ourselves with the specific ship.
When we arrived at the port around 12:30, we were
directed to a parking space after paying the $40 fee. We then checked the bags that were
large and took a
couple of carry on bags just in case our checked bags
were not delivered before dinner since we had the main
seating at 6:00. We had all of our paperwork in order
and ready to turn in before boarding. Even though the
lines were very long, they moved very quickly and were
very organized. We were issued our sea passes, which
you need to keep with you at all times, and we were
quickly ready to board.
The first thing we did was find our staterooms and
leave our bags there. Everything was all in order for
us. Our attendant was Julio from Haiti. He was very
sweet and always had everything clean, straightened,
and just as we requested. I was expecting our inner
staterooms to be microscopic based on reviews I had
read, so I was surprised when I found that there was
indeed room to move around. The rooms were small, but
very well laid out and functional. The bathrooms were
the same way, small but very functional. My husband
and I shared a room, my friend and her husband shared
a room, and our two daughters shared a room across the
hall from us. Had we had three to a room, it might
have been a bit too crowded, but for two people, the
inner rooms were good enough. Besides, we were really
only in them to sleep and take showers since we always
had so much to do. At night, I had thought it might
be hard to sleep because there was always someone up
and about on the ship. But we didn't hear anything on
deck three except the anchor being lowered when we
arrived at Coco Cay. I am glad I had read a review
about that sound, or I probably would have thought
something was wrong with the ship. One cool thing we
all looked forward to every evening after dinner was
finding the cute towel animals Julio would leave for
us when he came to turn down our beds and leave a delicious chocolate on our pillows. The first
night
we didn't have an animal, but on the other nights we
had a rabbit, a monkey, and an elephant. If we left
sunglasses out in sight, Julio would put them on our
towel animal, which made it even cuter. At one point
during the cruise a couple of the stateroom attendants
did a poolside demonstration of making the animals,
which was interesting.
After we put our things in our rooms upon arrival, we
headed to the Windjammer on Deck 11 for the welcome
aboard lunch. I was not expecting such an array of
food as we had. There was so much to choose from. I
really don't see how anyone could not find several
things that they liked. They always had a wide
variety of foods to choose from, and I never ate a
thing I didn't like. It was all tasty and the food
service workers were always busy keeping everything
replenished. We ate at the Windjammer for breakfast
every morning except the last one. We also had lunch
there every afternoon, and usually popped in for an
afternoon 'snack,' which always turned out to be a
whole meal by the time we tried a little of everything
that looked good. There was also soft serve ice cream
and pizza available until very late. The pizza was in
the Mast Bar above the pool.
We then did a tour of the ship. We just mainly looked
around and tried to see everything we could. The ship
was gorgeous and is kept in excellent shape. I was concerned that it might look a little worn and
shabby since it is thirteen years old, but that wasn't
the case at all. The crew works very hard to make
sure that it stays looking so good.
Before long it was time for the Muster Drill. We had
to return to our staterooms, put on our life jackets,
and walk up to Deck 7 to our assigned station to
practice for an emergency evacuation. I was pleased
that the crew took this drill and security any time we
left or returned to the ship very seriously. It made
me feel very safe to be on board. I didn't hear any
passengers complaining about this like I might have
heard in the past.
As soon as the drill ended, it was time for us to go
dress for dinner. The dress was casual the first two
nights, but we usually dressed up pretty nicely. The
dining room was very fancy and formal, so we just felt
like dressing accordingly. We were glad to have a
table by the window, number 49. The six of us in our
party sat together. There was room for eight. No one
ever sat at the other two chairs. We don't know if
those people chose to eat in the Windjammer instead or
if they wound up not coming on the cruise or what. Our waiter was Edderic from Philippines and
our
assistant waiter was Santan from India. They were
both wonderful. They were very charming, polite,
attentive, and efficient. After the first two
evenings, they knew what we always ordered to drink
and brought it to us without having to ask. Our
headwaiter in the Kismet dining room was Gilberto from
Portugal. He always came to our table to check in
with us to make sure things were going well. He is
the one you tell if there is a special occasion to
celebrate during your cruise. My husband's birthday
took place during this time, and Gilberto and our
waiters brought out a birthday cake for him one night
and sang to him. It was very nice.
Each night the dining room had a different theme. The
first evening was Venetian Feast. The waiters all
dressed in vests with the colors of Italy and Italian
food was on the menu. Before dessert all of the
waiters sang a song for us in Italian. The second
evening was a Caribbean theme. The waiters wore
festive tropical vests that night. The third evening,
formal night, was the Captain's Gala Dinner, and the
last evening was Feast of Nations theme. Every night
it was a hard decision about what to order.
Everything sounded delicious. You could have as many
things as you wanted, but after stuffing ourselves all
day, we could really only hold one thing from each
course. Except on the last night, when several of us
in our party had two desserts. We just couldn't
choose between the Brownie Madness and the Baked
Alaska. We were always asked very politely each
evening if we wished a cocktail before and after
dinner, but our person who asked was not in the least
pushy. We are not drinkers and we just said no thank
you and he wished us a good evening and that was it. Our dining room staff impressed us all for sure.
The whole time we were on the cruise I was amazed by
the amount of food that was prepared and wondered what
it must be like in the galley. I was so glad then
that my husband and I happed to catch the end of a
cooking demonstration that was going on in one of the
rooms, and the chef told those of us in attendance
that if we met him at the Kismet Dining room at a
certain time, he would give us a galley tour. It was
fascinating to see and everyone worked so efficiently.
It was an amazing operation. There is nearly always
a crew working in the kitchen just as hard as they
can, and even when one cruise is over for the
passengers, the crew is hard at work preparing food
for the next group to board that same day for a new
cruise. When the four day cruise ends on Thursday
morning, the three day cruise starts Thursday
afternoon. They leave the ship on Sunday morning, and
then the four day people get aboard that afternoon. So it is a never-ending cycle for those who work
aboard the ship.
Speaking of the crew members, they were all so
friendly and polite and helpful. I did not meet anyone who was less than professional.
They
really made you feel at home and that they were truly
happy to have you there and did their best to make
your stay as fun, interesting, and comfortable as
possible. It was also interesting for me to read each person's nametag, which included
the country the
person was from. I can't remember the exact number of
countries represented on the ship, but I
think it was 70+. Julio and one of the guys who did a
line dance class told me the crew works six
months straight with no days off, then they are off
for two whole months. It is a very demanding
schedule, but all appeared to enjoy their work very
much.
After dinner each evening our party chose to attend the featured shows. The first night it was Johnny
Thunder, a former member of the Drifters. I regret
that we missed the comedian that first night, but we
were all simply exhausted and went to bed around 11:00
or so. We heard that he was very funny though. The
second night was a show by the Royal Caribbean Singers
and Dancers, "Rock on Broadway." It was excellent.
My friend and I were disappointed that our girls chose not to attend this, instead going to a movie in
one of the two cinemas. They thought they wouldn't enjoy the show, but when they caught the
singers/dancers on the last night in a different
performance, they wished they had gone with us
to "Rock on Broadway," too. We also caught "Rockin'
Through the Decades" in the Follies Lounge, which was
an audience participation show. On Night Three, we
went to the Captain's Champagne Reception after
dinner, which was a very nice and elegant affair. We
had complimentary champagne while we listened to an
orchestra and danced. I enjoyed this a lot since we
were dressed in our formal attire. After that we went
to the Family Karaoke. Our girls planned to give
it a try, but they ran out of time before their turn
came. Then we attended a show by Joey Van who did
impressions. We adults thought it was great, but the
girls didn't know who some of the people were that he was impersonating. But he
mixed in some folks
like Ozzy Osbourne, which they liked. On the final
night, we attended "Flashback" by the singers and
dancers again, another great show, as well as another
comedian, Rodney Johnson. He was a riot.
During the afternoons, there was always something to
do, whether it be relax by the pool, swim, sit in the
hot tubs, exercise, play basketball, attend seminars
and demonstrations, dance classes, etc. I don't see
how anyone could possibly be bored. There were plenty
of things offered for children, and also for teens. Our teenagers didn't attend the planned
activities,
but they still had a lot to do on their own. Just be
sure to check out the Daily Compass, which your
stateroom attendant will leave for you each evening,
and you can browse through it and decide what things
might interest you for the next day.
There are two pools on the ship and tons of chairs,
so you don't have to worry about getting a place to
sit. They are three rows deep, so you have your
choice of full sun, sun and shade, or all shade. The
only complaint was that they do need to update their
music selections when they play them on the speakers. There was a lot of 70s-80s soft rock,
and that is all
well and good, but the girls and I would have
enjoyed it if they had mixed in more up to date music
than they did. On Night Two, there was a deck party
with live Calypso music and a Mexican and Caribbean
Feast. On the last day, which was at sea, it was real
crowded around the pool, but you could still find a
place to sit. If you prefer a quiet place to read or
just look at the ocean or relax, try the promenade deck, Deck 7. My husband and I enjoyed walking around
it and sitting there quite a few times. It was shady
and peaceful.
Don't be a dummy like I was. Use lip balm in addition
to your sunscreen. Even if you have a tan, the
Caribbean sun is very strong. I wound up sunburning
my lips and by the end of Formal Night I was looking
like Angelina Jolie. I was afraid I might have sun
poisoning, so I made a visit to the ship
doctor the next morning. He was very kind, but it
cost me money I otherwise would not have had to spend.
Hopefully either my health insurance or the Cruise
Care travel insurance I took out will reimburse me for
the charges.
As for the ports of call, the first day was Coco Cay, RCI's private island. I loved it there. It was
gorgeous with the white sand and blue water. There
were plenty of chairs to be had all over the island. Just be sure to take and return the pool towels from
your room. There were hammocks to relax in under the
palm trees. We rented beach mats and floated
around in the water, which was my favorite thing to
do. We didn't plan any excursions. I am sure they
were fun, but they were not cheap and we didn't want
to feel like we had to rush to do anything. We were
busy enough as it was without them, and I don't regret
not doing any. The people who did them seemed to
enjoy them though. There was a barbeque lunch served
on the island. The crew put out a huge spread for
that and it was quite good. We stayed several
hours on Coco Cay until we got too hot and then we
returned to the ship.
The next morning was Nassau. I enjoyed looking at it
and Paradise Island from the ship. It was very
pretty. My plans were to just buy a few souvenirs,
making sure to find the Hard Rock Cafe because
everyone needs a Hard Rock shirt from Nassau. It was
only a few blocks away. I didn't want to go to the
Straw Market because I am not into haggling or
anything, so we just visited a few shops and got back
on the ship. I am sure we missed some nice sights,
but my objective was just to go on a cruise and I was
not real concerned with any ports of call. When we
got back on the ship, we had the pool pretty much to
ourselves for a long while since most everyone was out
and about in Nassau.
We bought a few of the many pictures that were taken
by the ship photographers. We also purchased the
video of our cruise. It was quite short for $24.99,
but I am still glad I bought it because... hey, it was
our cruise! It was lots of fun to watch and relive
some of the moments and to show the folks back home
what we got to do.
On the morning of departure our party decided to try
the dining room for breakfast. The food was delicious
as usual. It was open seating so we did not get our
usual waiters. We watched the dolphins swimming
around in Port Canaveral to keep us entertained. After our meal, we went back to
the room, said our
goodbyes to Julio, and made our way to the Follies
Lounge with our carry on luggage to wait until our tag
color, beige, was called so that we could disembark. The girls and I made one final trip
through the ship
and decks to get one last look and to snap a few more
pictures. Then, as it got closer to time for the ship
to be cleared by customs, we went back to the lounge
to wait. Our color was not called for about 40
minutes, so to pass the time my husband and I
watched out the windows. It was quite interesting to
see luggage being carried out of the ship and loads of
food being delivered and brought in to the ship for
the cruise that would be leaving that night. Again,
it was mind boggling to see the amount of food used. Every worker on the dock worked nonstop to keep things
running smoothly and this kept us from being bored
while we waited to have our turn to leave.
All in all, we had a marvelous time. I would
definitely cruise with Royal Caribbean again. They
are a first class operation. I hope I will get to
cruise again in the not so distant future.
Photo Courtesy of Royal
Caribbean Intl.
Royal
Caribbean - Cruise Reviews
CruiseDiva
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