I was coming from a military base in Afghanistan to meet up in Venice with my son to cruise the Mediterranean for a week. We had a fantastic time, embarkation was quick and smooth, the ship was very clean, the staff was impressive, the weather was great, and all of the port stops were nice. The one disappointment, which was no fault of Royal Caribbean's, was cancellation of the Athens visit due to a strike that prevented us from using the port. The Captain was able to reroute us for a stop at Split, Croatia instead and although it probably wasn't comparable to Athens, it was a small but lovely stop anyway.

I realize that everyone cruises for different reasons, and based on that people may have completely different expectations, but for us the ship was perfect. The mid-sized ship didn't have all the bells and whistles of the newer mega-ships but I wasn't cruising the Mediterranean to go on a sky-diving simulator, do some ice skating, or smash around in bumper cars onboard anyway so Splendour of the Seas was great for relaxing and cruising around the Greek Isles.

We only went to the main dining room once and honestly were not too impressed with the food, although I promise you it was much better than I would have been cooking and eating at home or being served on the military base, so I am not complaining at all. It's much more likely that we were just spoiled by the excellent wait staff and large variety of fresh food at the more casual Windjammer, which turned out to be our favorite place to dine. Read more