We choice this cruise strictly for the itinerary and the shore excursions. We knew it was an older ship and not to have high expectations as far as there is no promenade area. But the ship was so compact and really no where to go and just sit. Every area was small and dark.
While it was no fault of Royal, we were not able to stop at St Croix, but when to St Thomas instead (which I have been to twice before). We were refunded for the St Croix excursion and picked a tour to Megans Bay.. which was changed to some other beach (a dirty and small.. ugly beach). We did not find out until AFTER we met at the meeting area. The tour bus told us to be back at the drop off spot at 3:15. We were there at 2:55 and waited. No bus. Everyone else who was on the bus going to the "beach" was not there either, so basically, the bus came early and left us. Both my boyfriend and I have knee & leg issues and we had no choice but to walk back to the ship... approximately a 45 minute walk.
People are told to book excursions thru the ship because the cruise line is responsible for getting us back to the ship safely and on time. Definitely was NOT the case this time.
We did an excursion on our own. We did a ZipLine (worlds largest in the Caribbean) with Rain Forest Adventures
I did not like the port area in Martinique at all. It did not have an island feel to it. We didn't find anything to do so we walked around for about an hour and went back on the ship
Our excursion was canceled and at we did not have anything else to do. We walked about a mile and did not feel very safe so, again, went right back on the ship.
We did not book an excursion thru the ship (with all of the bad experience we had thus far, we did not want to give Royal Caribbean any more money). When we went out to the parking area, we took a van tour around the island. Was much cheaper than what Royal was charging for their tours and we had a nice time.