First off, may I begin by noting that we have sailed many of RCCL's ships over the years, both domestically and internationally. That said, I cannot ignore the gradual decline in both service and quality of food over the years. The Dining Room experience used to be something we always looked forward to. We could always find a dish every night that was outstanding. The room was usually full of other cruisers enjoying their meal. Just recently off the Navigator of the Seas Oct. 4-11, W. Caribbean. Let me preface this review, as food always is subjective, so I won't spend too much time on this, however, I must note the absence of diners from the Sapphire dining room each night, which changes the ambiance dramatically. All the empty tables should send a message to RCCL that we choose not to experiment with the "hit or miss" quality of the food served. We chose to dine at Giovanni's which was quite good, however, we chose the Filet entree and was served one pasta dish as a side. Not a good sampling of the Italian dishes available. The service was wonderful!!
Kudos to the windjammer. We found the food to be quite tasty, as we chose to eat breakfast and lunches there practically every day. Now I, for one, do not like buffet food, but at least I could find something each day that was good!! The service was wonderful and entertaining!! Cafe Promenade serves much better coffee than the windjammer, however, breakfast choices are few/usually pastries/bread/etc., and limited choices for sandwiches at lunchtime. Small, quiet atmosphere and I have no complaints here!!
This was our first sailing as "diamond", which I found the "diamond lounge" to be the best perk, as we could frequent each evening from 4:30 - 7:30 pm, for snacks/drinks. Nadja (concierge) was wonderful and had a ready supply of tickets for the "Ice Dancing Show". We also could enjoy free cocktails throughout the ship between 4:30 - 7:30 in addition to the convenience of the lounge. We chose to tip the bartenders a little extra, which they appreciated and we were given excellent service. However, we did find that most of the bars were understaffed, so the wait time for a cocktail was longer than expected.
Cabin was roomy with plenty of drawers and closet space. Balcony was noticeably in need of paint and rust removal.