This was our second cruise on the Royal and likely our last. We were fortunate to cruise the Royal on her Maiden Transatlantic crossing from Venice to Ft. Lauderdale - without a doubt that was the finest and classiest cruise we have taken, and we cruise all the time. The maiden cruise was sheer elegance and we loved it; however, times have changed! This time we found the cruising experience to be really, really, tacky. We were on the Lido Deck forward (our choice) which meant we had to walk past the pool to get to the Horizon for breakfast and lunch every day - the noise and screaming from the pool, accompanied by the continuous loud music and the early showing of numerous videos on the huge outdoor screen was more than we could stand.

I am an artist and I would set up my sketchbook on the table next to the sliding entrance door, as far away from people and the noise as possible, and still the noise was overpowering. We finally found a quiet table in the Crooner's Lounge and would sketch and read there for an hour or so every morning. We were joined every day by people trying to get away from the noise. We were also amazed at the number of people who think it is perfectly OK to walk through the Horizon in a bathing suit, to use the elevators and generally travel through the ship without wearing a cover, men with no shirts and great looking young women in tiny bikini's. If that is how you like to vacation the Royal is definitely for you!!!

Now to the ship in general - we dined in the Allegra and thought the food and service was excellent, I had one meal that I just did not like and was given another meal more to my liking. We love the International Cafe with their amazing array of delectable freshly made goodies and coffees. We absolutely hated the smoke in the Casino, and on the Royal the smoke is able to seep up into the shopping areas. We had no problem with the small balcony, plenty of room to just sit and watch the world go by! We did, however, hate the fact that some of our neighbors in the no smoking rooms continued to smoke on their balconies and the smoke was blown back into our balcony and sometimes the room. If you ask people not to do something, they are going to do it anyway, it is the way of the modern world! I had a problem with the bathroom - the sink stopper did not work so it was impossible to have water in the basin; the shower plumbing did not take the water out of the shower stall fast enough and I was continually concerned about it spilling over into the room, and at times when one lifted the toilet lid the stench nearly knocked you back ............. I understand the tank is "down there", but can't they do something about the stench escaping? Read more