We are loyal Norwegian Cruise Line customers and this was our first cruise with Royal Caribbean. I can honestly say we were all pleasantly surprised that Royal Caribbean met and in some cases exceeded our expectations. The ship was amazing, the staff was wonderful and the amount of choices for dining, activities and different pool/lounge areas was wonderful. There were only several nuances that we missed that NCL does better than RCI.

First, being able to eat lunch in a main dining room when we boarded. That was a big disappointment because it's always a treat to have a nice "fancy" lunch when we board the ship. Second was the lack of shampoo/shower gel in the shower - having to deal with all those little bottles was annoying and not very "green" or efficient. Minor annoyance, major eco-friendly fail for RCI. Finally, not having a soft serve ice cream in the Windjammer was very disappointing. Having to go outside to get ice cream and endure a long line every day annoyed my 10 yo to no end.

Also, we were very disappointed that we never visibly saw or heard much from the Cruise Director - was he invisible? Also, we were very, very disappointed that the Captain and ships Officers didn't even bother to show up at the Cruise Critic Meet & Greet on Monday, April 6. Hugo the Activities Director was a gracious host as was the woman there from the Conferences & Meetings desk from Estonia. Just something that NCL Captain and Team seemed to think was important enough to show up for and then each of them invited us to dinner one night in one of the main dining rooms. A thoughtful touch and we appreciated getting to know the officers this way. Read more