This was our fourth cruise, and first with Royal Caribbean. Getting on board was a quick and easy process. From the moment we parked our car to the moment our keys were unlocking our cabin door took less than an hour. Our cabins were in level 6, an inside cabin and a cabin with. Window. Both were immaculately clean, with comfortable beds and nice furnishings. Both bathrooms were small, of course. I appreciated the bathroom shelving and good water pressure. Our cabins had 8 drawers and a closet with 7 shelves and room for hanging clothes. The vanity desk in each cabin had vanity lights, 2 electrical outlets, and a good hair dryer. There is also an outlet in the bathroom. The televisions were older models, but decent quality. The temperature, bedding, and everything else I can think of were good quality and comfortable.

The service on board was flawless. Every team member we dealt with was smiling, and quick to help. Our room steward, the mechanic who fixed our safe, the service desk, shop keepers, wait staff in all of the eateries, plus any staff member we randomly came across were smiling and pleasant without fail. The batteries in our tv remote died, and our steward had them replaced in a few minutes. Our towel animals were a big treat, especially the kissing swans that formed a heart and included a Valentine from the Housekeeping staff.

The food was phenomenal. The Promenade, just a quick walk down one flight of steps from our cabin, was open 24/7, with pizza, pastries, and sandwiches. A nice variety of teas, coffee, and hot chocolate mix are available self serve. Our first meal was at the Windjammer buffet. They offered a good variety of soups, salads, entrees, sides, and desserts. We ate at the Windjammer and adjoining Jade Asian buffet about fifteen times, and we enjoyed new dishes every day. The Indian food was especially nice. There was a chick pea stew and Basmati rice dish that was divine. The list of excellent foods would be too long, so I will only provide our top 5: baked macaroni and cheese, blackened salmon, key lime pie, all of the curries, and honey stung fried chicken, with an honorable mention to the extensive and fresh salad bar, pasta bar, and taco bar. And the chicken ala king was so good we have to mention that as well. We also made use of the three soft serve ice cream stations on board, all on level 11. We always found a good seat, usually by the window. We enjoyed fine dining at 8:30 each evening. The service and presentation were superb. The food was 90% excellent & 10% fair. When our waiters noticed a dish we did not eat, they always offered to bring something in its place. The Grand Mariner vanilla souffle was the best dessert our sons have ever tasted. Read more