Fact: Royal Caribbean Platinum Member(Has alot to do with our experience) For Us, Be Loyal to Royal pays off. Booked cruise online only about 5 weeks before. Inside Cabins(2) for our selves(40 somethings,active, non-shoppers,naturalists),2 daughters, 17 and 24. Flight Down from Phila via US air night before cruise(HIGHLY RECOMMEND as to avoid anxiety if you will miss boat)booked through US Air. Some awful computer glitch in Atlanta/weather combo mess that had us delayed from 8:30 flight until 11:00 all the while wondering if flight was to be cancelled. Boarded and sat on runway until 1:00am and watched luggage guys unload and load various luggage mixups and prayed our luggage was on board. Flew in storm,arrived in Ft.Lauderdale 3:00am,Called Hampton Inn which we prebooked on their website(the one on SW 12th). They have 24 hour complimentary shuttle from airport and to cruise ship. Both of these trips are surprisingly short. HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS HOTEL. For every aspect, from proximity to strip mall(Dollar General for last minute brushes,gum,etc) to breakfast in am, comfort of beds, personality of staff.Book when you check in for shuttle in am. We left at 12 noon, with plenty of time to board. Drivers extremely pleasant.
Day 1: Arrived at 12:15pm. Shocked to see lots of disembarkers,and huge line coming out of terminal. Apparently the US coast guard demanded the ship pick up a boat load of Cuban refugees and this delayed the ships arrival to port by 3 hours. This in turn delayed our embarkation as the ship's staff needed time to "turn around" the ship. "No problem Mon". As we are Platinum Members(5 cruises or More), we were able to bypass all the lines and get right on the ship. This was our first time on this vessel and initial impressions were fabulous. Everything was extremely Clean. Highly recommend floor 4 as you embark on this floor, disembark on this floor, the dining room in on this floor(for access to midnight buffet), everything seems to be only 1-2 floors away from you allowing use of steps in middle of ship versus elevators. Surprisingly noted, no fruit punch or mild alcohol punch served on previously cruises as soon as you boarded but found cookies, water, and orange juice behind the elevator bank(ask for it if you need immediate thirst quenching). We immediately went up to floor 5 to get the unlimited soda cup for our 17 year old.I would not do this again as it cost 23.00. You get seltzer filled coke, not cans and she is not a big soda drinker after all. You get lemonade and iced tea unlimited at all lunch, dinner,and snacks and it would probably be worth the 1.50 for the can of coke they charge. It is perfectly all right to pack Vitamin waters,gatorades,and soda bottles with you. Do not bring alcohol.They're drinks are not overpriced at all and it's not worth it. Even the prices of a full bottle of wine for dinner is about what we pay at home at an average restaurant. We ate lunch in the Windjammer, on day 1 it was superb. Service,food quality,variety,cleanliness. We had a favorite Windjammer attendant and we tipped him daily. I did not see many if any people tip these people and they deserve it.We explored the ship completely;would not stay on deck 2 or 3, esp deck 2 is all rooms and is very dark,(IMHO).At 1pm, you can go to your room. Do that, unload your carry ons, and get into your bathing suits with cover up. They will not let anyone in the dining areas, casual or otherwise, without full coverup and footwear(Thank God for that!).Our luggage was outside our room by 4pm, no problem at all. In our room were complimentary RC robes for platinum members, awesome.Rooms are cozy,clean and have lots of hidden storage space, in the closets, behind the mirrors on the makeup table, and the bathroom spacious medicine cabinet(I'm serious!)Use the room safe, it's no charge, just uses your charge card to work it(no it does not charge your card) and it's probably the best feature in the room) We took lots of cash( cash for excursions in Jamaica and Cayman, cash for all the tips(you tip everybody-one guy moved our luggage from the ground behind the Hampton Inn van to the curb,slid, not carried, about 5 feet and whined about the fact he moved 7 bags for $4. You wonder why people avoid them. Yes, we always tip min of $1/bag but this was almost laughable. Back to the money, take at least 50 in ones. There were many people wasting quality time in line at Guest Relations to get change. We had a mandatory muster drill at 4:30pm in about 90 degree heat. Has to be done. Immediately after the beautiful departure with our alcoholic drinks, we found the Solarium pool. Awesome. Peace. Beauty. Only people 16 and older, no music, Greek themed with salt water( you will float easily in salt water,amazing feeling),warm, and lions with water shooting out of their mouth leading to mini-back massages. 2 hot tubs, pool side showers, and with a glass cover they can close if it rains. We spent 90% of our time on the vessel here. On the other hand, if you like a taste of the Reggae music, kids everywhere, in hot tubs, belly flop contests, sexy legs contest, the main pool area is for you. We had late dinner seating and that was a first for us, but probably now prefer it. We had a table for 4 which we loved and had the best servers! Tip- be yourself, initially both the asst waiter(a lovely woman)and the waiter(a great gentleman)appeared reserved and somewhat stuffy. We looked at each other apprehensively but as soon as we were ourselves, easy going, relaxed, they immediately relaxed and we thoroughly enjoyed our dining experiences in the Main Dining Room. DO NOT MISS DINING IN THE MAIN DINING ROOM. All the meals were superb, they pamper you, you get a chance to talk to your family while they're well dressed and attentive,and the staff puts on little shows. Tip them well the last day, get to know them, and they will put magic in your stay. Many of them do tricks with napkins and little jokes. Good Stuff. Highly recommend escargot, the filet beef slices, the souffle for dessert.(my daughter swore by the baked alaska. We loved the Cream of Asparagus soup, the chicken marsala,and almost all the appetizers) I have to say the only thing we didn't care for was the lobster(Floridian, not Australian, or Maine like perhaps we're used to) but I do not think the prep was right. It tasted raw and not sweet at all. We did not go to "Chops" at all but if you want to pay $20 per person, go ahead. The steaks we had in the dining room were great. Every night you can alternate the choices with delicious steak if nothing on the menu appeals to you. We went to see the opening comedian Don Barnhart, who was very good, with comedy about marriage and double wide trailers. My 17 yr old laughed the most. Surprise. Day 2- at Sea. Relaxation, Sun, pool,Breakfast in main dining room versus breakfast in Windjammer, try both, lots more stuff up in Windjammer, better french toast, pancakes were terrible in main dining room but omelettes excellent, if your an Eggs benedict fan, go to the main dining room. They seat you in there with different people, many times this is pleasurable but sometimes people are strange and it can be tenuous. Met with Verlie, the Crown and Anchor society "Ambassador" in her office. Got platinum booklets with free drinks, free match play in casino,good coupons. Read your cruise compass. Drink of the day was Miami Whammy for 4.25. Beer to me is expensive 3.75-to 6.00 for various cans or bottles. Did the 10am, one show only discover shopping show with Carlos. It is advertised all over as a must see regarding your sea ports in Ocho Rios and Cayman. It is really a shopping infomercial. Carlos is annoying and the video is insulting with a push to buy a $25 book for coupons for shopping. Royal Caribbean is going to kill me if they read this but fact is the only reason to go to this is to get a fake bubble gum ring thrown to you or waste time regarding the best place to get Tanzanite, be my guest.We do not go to ports to shop but if you do and want to shop for expensive jewelry, go to this. My family relaxed by the pool and I watched Carlos act like an idiot. Oh well. Great lunch in Windjammer, pizza,hot dogs, hamburgs, ice cream, always available by pool. Ask if you can't find it. All employees are extremely helpful. 4pm Dance lessons, packed,tons of laughs and the dance instructor is excellent, of good humor, and a great dancer.HIGHLY RECOMMEND these. They are held almost every day at various times and we went twice and I would have gone more if I knew how cool. ALL AGES welcome, and no one cares how you do, just have fun. Casino smoke free night, awesome casino, saw one girl win $1200 on quarter machine. My husband loved roulette,there's a texas holdem competition towards end of cruise. Casino staff awesome. There was a Viking Crown Lounge village people show we missed at 12:30am., only thing we missed that looked awesome on TV the next night. Day 3 Ocho Rios, beautiful picturesque port from the ship.Prebooked tour with Mark Morris online for $55 per person for the Dunn's falls and river tubing tour with tour of the area. OMG, awesome. Thank you Cruise Critic people-if not for you we would have not found Mark- www.markstours.com We were the only ship in the port the entire day. We were the only family with Mark for the tour for the day. Get off the ship early and you will be funneled into the area where the position you in either Royal Caribbean tours, private tours, etc. We were waiting under a tent, when Mr.Sunshine, Mark, arrived. His van is immaculate, new, fully air conditioned, and he is wonderful. Accurate description, extremely articulate, perfect annunciation of his words, super intelligent, and very attentive. He took us to Dunn's falls first, and that was great as there was no crowd. DO DUNN's-it's a must do if you are somewhat agile and have a husband whose willing to push your butt from behind if the pitch is too steep. From pictures and descriptions, I found Dunn's falls longer than described meaning you climb for 1hour to 1 and 1/2 hours. It's long but if it's at all sunny, it's worth it. It is extremely refreshing. You form a human chain with your group, I had my two daughters in the front and there is a guide who is young and sweet(Morris on the back of his shirt) and a videographer who is hysterical Jamaican, I wish I could remember his name, he was about 40-50, could scale the falls like nobody's business. We are so glad we did the falls-you use major leg muscle,quadriceps,and caution but people help each other. Seriously though, if you over 280-300 pounds, perhaps rethink. A very large lady fell down them at the end of our group at the beginning of the trek and she apparently bounced alot.If you could do 2 flights of stairs without being winded go for it. If your large and have to stop for breathers, don't do it. Rushing water, slippery rocks and steep steps up. MUst have-tight fitting water shoes-Walmart-4.84, mine were a little lose and kept filling with pebbles from rushing water. Daughter who whined about tight fitting water shoes-no complaints, no pebbles, happy feet.Should have bought video for 30 for VHS,40 for DVD,left money with Mark and when we got back to van forgot about returning to purchase video.Darn. Listen to your tour guide.Go out through the entrance you came in. Jamaicans have major poverty and want to sell you anything and everything. We're not shoppers. Wear a bathing suit only with the shoes.Don't take your shorts, shirts, or coverup. You'll have to rent a locker for 8 bucks; leave them in your van with your tour guide such as Mark. Off to water tubing tour. Views of back street of Jamaica. Surprising, poverty,narrow one lane roads, voodoo, outdoor showering with no coverage, chickens, dogs, goats, colors of housing,babies everywhere. Something to see. Tubing is not like a water park or anything you've ever done in the states. Erase your mind. You're in Fern Gully with a naturalist kid/guide and a Greek guy from a all inclusive with your family. Hysterical. Some say it's restful, relaxing,I say adventurous,hysterical, and I'm laughing writing this. They are black tubes, not the pretty yellow ones I've seen on line. The bottom has a protective hard plastic to protect your butt from dragging bottom. My husband had a problem with his butt hitting bottom and flipped once but "Blinky" or "chris" helped him immediately. At one time or another one of us got away from him but in an instant he "saved" us. At mid stream they stop and walk you through the saddest mini market to look at pictures they took, hey buy them because they're only 5 bucks and the guys that work there are real nice and they walk you to a jump off above the river if you want to jump in. Gave us a smell of a lime tree,very enjoyable. Daughter got bit by apparently an insect with a stinger and Mark was there with a first aid kit. Was pouring rain by then at the end of the river tour so back in van for a tour of island. Mark knew lots about trees,trivia, everything! We seriously were hungry and exhausted and we wanted to go back to the boat to shower and eat. We really did not want to shop, but if you do Mark will take you to the best places. We couldn't be happier with Mark. Back on the ship everyone returned because of the pouring rain. Windjammer very crowded for lunch but everyone in good spirits. Heard Margaritaville was great a "Red Stripe", the island beer was very good.Took about a 4 hour nap and went to special cocktail hour to meet the Captain and have champagne and appetizers as Platinum members. Awesome! Great Captain, very talkative on overhead announcing but good man. Watched Karaoke and went shopping in the shops on board. Cheap prices on alcohol(you will not get it until last night of cruise-late)and they only allow duty and tax free 1 liter per person. Did the "Quest" the game that is the funniest thing to do on any royal caribbean ship. I'm not going to ruin it but I'll give you hints, sit in the front closest to Marc, the cruise director, and please participate. You will never laugh so hard, try to get an "older" couple to join you.
Day 4:Grand Cayman- Get up early, get off the boat one the first tender, please, if you have an excursion planned. We booked the Stingray tour, with 2 additional snorkeling sites with Captain Marvin's. DO THIS TOUR IF YOU SNORKEL OR WANT TO-Only 39.99/person PREBOOK , but pay cash to save the 5%credit card fee.10am-1pm. Bring towels, sunscreen, and drinks such as vitamin water or gatorade. They supply water and punch in a cooler with cups but I seemed to need more as the energy you expend in enormous.This is the best excursion I've ever been on, it lasts longer than 1 pm. This is not a rush job at all with 2 crew members, one boat driver and another guy who works closely with you and the sting rays. These are the nicest guys you can meet who will help with everything!The Sun is hot, hotter than any we felt.Despite super sunscreen, our family did get burned and the boat we were on was a sparkling white and we stayed in the front the entire time. No regrets though. I'd go back to Cayman in a heartbeat, tried lots of rum at Tortuga liquor store, and would go again to ONLY Captain Marvin's. They have a top run organization and give you a little tour of the island before your leave for the most beautiful water on earth! Returned at 2:45 to Enchantment, nap, shower, casino,and dinner. That evening,Midnight buffet. Another reason to be on 4th floor, just throw on shoes walk down hall into buffet. Get in line by midnight, but of course, people will cut the line that is about 200 people long just because they have a kid in a stroller or a large extended family and they think they don't have to wait in line. Sheesh! Lots of chocolate,brie, salmon, and ice sculptures.