I've had great experiences with Royal years ago and after dipping my toe in the water with Carnival, I came back.

It was my daughter's Spring Break so we generally travel somewhere and cruises have been great fun and good experiences for her. This was no exception to our experience. Royal truly treated us first class from our embarkation throughout. We got our luggage in our room within an hour or boarding the ship.

The food was excellent as always and our waitstaff was top notch. Two of the bartenders on board were really fist-class as well. I always buy the drink package and that includes the gratuity in the price of the drinks. But I always tip an extra dollar if the person gives me good service and this is generally appreciated. Well sometimes since the ship was full of people and there were always people waiting on drinks that little bit of money wasn't as appreciated as normal. Regardless, I found Paul in the Crown Lounge upstairs. He is absolutely the best bartender I've encountered on land or sea. Great guy and really funny. Also in the Solarium, Jeffrey was another standout bartender. So definitely go see them if you are on board. Read more