Clean, modern, spacious
Bathroom: 2 sinks, shower in tub
Living room: TV - free movies
Bedroom: TV - as above
Quality lighting, furnishings
Large balcony: right under a large overhanging roof (13th floor)

Difficult to get to the airport without using a taxi.
Can try using the metro and cruise shuttle combination, but might be more daunting to get to the port. Had no problems using it to get back, but need to plan in advance.
Large city, lots of haze. Worth staying in a nice hotel, plenty of Western or French fusion-style food around the Bund, local options in the area seem limited.
Some tours are available to see a nearby village for a more traditional authentic experience.

Shanghai

Embarkation: very large queues were skipped, very rushed feel with large crowds milling about, but you do need to flag to embarkation staff if you have priority

Disembarkation: we elected to leave late, but despite lack of priority, was swift

Ship:

Large, modern and spacious - feels similar to Ovation, with similar crowd concentration

- elevators can be crowded at times, with pushing/shoving at peak times (eg subway in China/Japan at peak hour)

- back of the ship (270 area) tends to be much quieter unless there is a show happening there

- no overcrowding in the Silver/Gold areas, Solarium seems particularly empty except for a number of  children and their supervising parents/grandparents

Cabin

- very new, modern, no damage/rust yet

- very little thoroughfare, quiet, as in the Suite section, which is mostly cordoned off from the rest of the ship

- close to the lounge, immediate access to the Solarium, far from other parts of the ship

Dining: overall, Western-styled food is not as good as it is on other ships (we did not try Chops, though), but the Asian food is much better

- room service menu fairly standard for an RCI cruise, with the addition a few Asian-styled dishes

- set dining menu in all restaurants, with more options than you would find on a standard RCI cruise

- Silver Dining: buffet with some Asian flavours.- Silk Road: good theatrics/props/theme, lots of dance numbers with recognisable modern tunes, story is a bit disjointed, but a fun watch nonetheless, kids will love it

- The Effectors show: about superheroes of special effects (choreography, sound, light, pixels), mostly decent execution representing each part, decent villain, not complex story (due to no voiced dialogue, only singing), kids will also love it

- Showgirls: past, present, future - more classic RCI entertainment as the start is reminiscent of the shows in the smaller ships, but builds up to something that you might see in equivalent ships, no real story

- Funny Bones comedic duo: starts slow, like a standard magic show, but the gags get much more involved with fun props, there is no dialogue and any spoken parts are purposefully unintelligible so you can interpret from the tone, body language - very clever

- Shops: wide selection of shops that you might see on other similar class ships (the Royal shop, jewellry, handbags); there is also JClinic, which seems to be Japanese alternative medicine store catering only to Chinese passengers as there is no translation to English, there is also a pharmacy which sells all manner of medicines, some that I have never heard of (the packaging is mostly in Japanese).

Spectrum of the Seas Review

Worth a try if you are open to new experiences

Rating by category

Additional details

Cabin Review

Grand Suite with Balcony

Port Reviews

Shanghai

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