My family and I decided to give RCI a try this summer. We have been on 20 Carnival cruises and 2 Princess cruises since 2001. We picked this cruise strictly on the itinerary. My teenagers were doing a DC trip with their school so we met them at the end and then came on this cruise. Coming Jon the ship we had high hopes for a great cruise. We had purchased the Key which was quite expensive for a family of 4. The only amenity we even used was the internet. RCI claims you can stream with it and you can if you sit in the Internet cafe. On your personal device in your room - nope, could hardly even play a game without your connection dropping constantly. The internet is not good at all. With the key and with a suite, you get to have reserved seating for shows. On some of the ships, this may be a benefit but on this ship - the shows were hardly attended. The broadway show was awful. I admit that I am picky about shows because I am a huge broadway fan and have attended many shows in NYC and in London but this was the worst show I’ve ever seen on a cruise ship. The All Access show was better until they got to the Madonna part and then it was a train wreck. The first comedian was great - my favorite show by far. He was good in the Welcome Aboard show and not too terribly raunchy in the adult show which was a pleasant surprise. Sometimes on Carnival, they can be just disgusting. The hypnotist show was ok and the juggler was ok. The rest, meh, Rey disappointing. The ship just doesn’t have much to do or to choose from to do. There were a couple of trivia’s per day but that was about it. The only cleaver things they had was the egg drop and the Royal Fair. Food - if you love buffet food, this is the ship for you. I however, do not. If you don’t eat on a buffet there really isn’t any other choices. They do offer lunch in the dining room on sea days but on port days - that’s it. The buffet is not appealing, food has been sitting for a long time, the hamburger buns are hard as a rock and the patties are burned to a crisp. The main dining room was good, the servers were great but there aren’t too many choices every night, just a couple. They push the specialty dining almost to the point of irritation. They even push you to pay for a specialty add on meal every night when you are about to order in the dining room. They must get a bonus or something if they can upsell you. In closing, we thought we would try a small ship to see if it was worth it to brave 6,000 people and on a ship and the family verdict is - No Way! We will stick with Carnival and enjoy the shows, the activities and the variety of food offered every single day. Read Less

We chose this cruise for the itinerary, the reputation of the Grandeur and for timing around the end of school. We cruised with a family with two pre-teens with whom we are essentially family and both families live near Baltimore. We arranged private transportation to and from the port due to the party size of six and the amount of luggage. Upon arrival, the Port of Baltimore did itself no favors as our driver was directed to one line where the luggage carts were being locked and when attempting to ask for direction to another line we were met with incredible indifference and ineptitude. Once we finally offloaded our luggage, we were then met with yet more confusion as we had booked the Royal Suite and the other members were Diamond members. Port staff had no idea where to direct people for security screening and actually dumped both parties into different, yet packed and slow moving, lines. We met at the screening and went through together. By that time we had been able to identify ourselves to Royal staff and our concierge, Carlington Berry (more on Carlington later) was waiting for us on the ship side of security. That was the last of any bad issues for embarkation. Carlington whisked us directly to check-in and then around all other lines directly to a private elevator (one woman decided to latch on and was with us all the way to and pushed into the elevator with her husband by pure hubris) and then to our suite. All of the features of the suite were discussed and our attendant, Fernando Dierra, was introduced to us. The staff of the Grandeur truly earns their reputation as the friendliest in RCI's fleet, the food was superior to other RCI ships (Majesty and Monarch) we have cruised on and the itinerary delivered. Finally, the staff in the Great Gatsby dining room was top notch, with our table's servers, Deepshika and Mary Ann, being the best we have ever had by far. Deepshika especially, as our head server, was organized efficient and catered to our party's every request. The only average part of our experience were the shows in the main theater. They were at best average, with a hypnotist and a comedian being each an hour we will never get back. We chose private tours we arranged separately and all were excellent. Specifically, Jolly Breeze Tour's jet boat whale watching tour from St. Andrews-by-the-Sea (St John port stop) was in the top 5 of all excursions we have ever done, including seaplane snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef and a helicopter into the Grand Canyon for lunch below the rim. We had been concerned about a rough ride in the zodiak for the girls but they actually wanted more wake jumping as the tour went on. The shock-absorbing seats helped a lot. Read Less

This cruise was not luxurious, enjoyable, or accommodating after working hard all year to pay to have a week of relaxation and a good time. A list of things that need serious improvement: • The food - The meals on this ship were less than sub par. I was highly disappointed in the options and the execution of the food. I can cook better than these supposedly trained chefs. I can promise you, the lasagna tasted exactly like Chef Boyardee right out of a can. Every vegetable served on the plate were essentially raw. The portions were never the same, even for guests sitting at the same table. The food was always cold. I always felt like it had sat out for some time before being served. The buffet was the best option for breakfast and lunch—there was better variety and the food was actually decent. On lobster night, a couple of members in my group decided they wanted an entire lobster and were willing to spend the additional $30. The lobster came out with nothing but the carrcus and a small bit of meat on the plate. The lobster tails had more meat in them. It was a waste of $30. • Cleanliness - Oh my goodness. The cleanliness on this ship needs to be investigated. On multiple occasions, dishes were dirty: lipstick on water glasses, the previous day's meal on silverware, pulp dried in water glasses...etc. One of my family members ended up with a virus from the unclean utensils and dishes. Also, the public bathrooms were not kept clean. • Sugar free dessert options - while the desserts were decent, when eating in the dining room for dinner, there was only one option for those with dietary restrictions compared to multiple options for those without dietary restrictions. Some of the sugar free desserts at dinner were just practically inedible. • Technology - There was no app available for large groups to communicate through. The option available was to spend approximately $15 per person/per day. There is absolutely no way I was going to pay for that. Read Less

Family cruise to a new area. The Adventure of the Seas is a well-run ship, and we experienced no troubling issues as we have on other RCI ships. We were pleased. The Adventure of the Seas staff had a Salute to Veterans on last sailing day which was a memorable, moving meeting of about 40-50 veterans of all military branches and ranks. Many wore identifying hats of their ships or branch of service. I was able to meet several former submariners and that made the celebration special to me. Go Navy! St. John, New Brunswick, on the Bay of Fundy was okay, but Bar Harbor and Peggy's Cove near Halifax were interesting and scenic. Would recommend tours in these ports. We thought that having two days in Halifax and skipping St. John would be preferable, but then there would only be two ports-of-call on a six-night cruise. Sailing days were limited basically to two full days, which did not really provide a lot of down time, and three days of ports-of-call back-to-back was a bit tiring to the "older" cruiser. Overall, a very nice cruise, great cruise, better-than-expected cruise quality was very nice to experience. Read Less

We celebrated my husband's birthday by taking this cruise. I purchased the birthday package where the room and door was decorated and included a picture frame and picture hanger as well as a cake and chocolate covered strawberries. The decorations were nice but due to all the other food on the ship the cake and strawberries went to waste. Probably best to save your money and bring your own decorations if you were to do this. The entertainment and crew were wonderful. Our cabin was inside on the seventh deck and very quiet there. We were in the front so very close to the entertainment venues. Our stateroom attendant was Lizbeth and she was terrific. The food was plentiful and I guess about average. There were some items that were exceptional (loved the roasted veggies in the Windjammer) and some that were lackluster (beef was tender but not much flavor in the dining room) but the wait staff were all very good. The Weather was not good for doing much on the outside decks but there were other options through out the ship. As with all cruises there were a lot of events where they are trying to sell you things. My husband and I found the price for 3 games of Bingo was more then we wanted to invest so we skipped on that. Lots of Trivia games and Karaoke. My favorite port of call was Bar Harbor, Maine but that was also the Port where we had the best weather. It was a quaint town that had lots to explore. Overall we would do it again....just maybe a week or two later in the year. Read Less

I booked this cruise as a birthday surprise for my wife because we had always heard that Royal Caribbean was better than Carnival, which we normally sailed on. Unfortunately, 'Adventure of the Seas' was not the adventure we wanted, with an extremely hard bed, little food variety/taste, and heavy smoking in the casino. Also, a change was made to our requested dining time, but Royal Caribbean didn't bother to notify me ahead of time, nor at time of check-in. Although the embark/debark process went smoothly, even with pierside power outage during debarkation. However, the poor conditions of the roadways (major potholes), open parking (garage was full), and dock area indicates that neither Royal Caribbean nor the state of New Jersey have decided to spend much on infrastructure. We decided to forego Windjammer upon embarkation and tried Johnny Rockets even though we had to pay for the food. Wait for food was excessive even though they knew they'd have a crowd, and even though the staff was apologetic, the food service managment should be more prepared. When we did try the Windjammer later in the afternoon, the food was cold and bland, and it didn't improve much over the course of the week. Dinner in the dining room was better, but there was a minimal change in the menu throughout the week. Our servers, Jose and Arico, were excellent, and attempted to provide us a personlized service as they ran between the several tables they were responsible for. Ashore, we enjoyed walking around both Bar Harbor and Halifax because they had a small-town feel and there was so much nearby to do/see, even without excersions. Although St. John was nice and there were some things close by the port, it was as conducive to wandering around and finding "local" things to do as the other two ports. Aboard ship, the entertainment was good, but the ship's orchestra was excellent. We really enjoyed hearing them play, and they even let one of the crew put on an Adele night with a program she developed. We normally enjoy sitting around the piano bar in the evening and sing along with everyone esle, but this ship's venue was open to a major passage fore/aft, so the number of people in a crowded area didn't help accoustics. We've already committed to a friend to go on a Royal Caribbean cruise again this winter, and we're hopeful that the next ship can redeem the cruise line in our minds or we'll move on permanently. Read Less

I picked this cruise based on itinerary and date; 3rd time on the Adventure but on Caribbean itineraries. We were a group of 7 adults (all have cruised before several times except for my 80 yrs old friend) We had embarkation time for 10:30am. (Highly recommend this time)Took a taxi on EWR and it took us like 20 minutes to Cape Liberty (no traffic because it was early). It was like $13 per person with tips each way. Embarkation was really smooth (be sure to have Sail Pass and Passport on hand) and before 11am we were aboard! You can bring up to 12 cans of soda or water bottles with you. The ship is still beautiful but cabins look outdated (old decor, pillows were not that comfortable). Guest Service was outstanding! My 80 years young fracture her hand the day before the trip and was on cast. We asked the stateroom attendant to put a rollaway bed in the room since none of the 3 (my mom, my aunt and her) were able to climb to ladder for the 3rd bed. He did that immediately but since there was no space to walk in the room I went to Guest Services to see if they could do something. Ten minutes later they gave us another stateroom adjacent to my sister’s so my senior friend could be comfortable! Yes! That’s right! No charge! I was amazed by their empathy and great service. All employees were super nice and helpful. Food in Windjammer was great all days. On MDR food was good but not much variety (Exactly same menu we had on Freedom Of the Seas last May). Would have preferred the Windjammer for dinner. Except for the Ice show and a singer/comedian show the rest was low quality and boring. Very disappointed with singers and shows; expected more from RC. Port of calls were amazing. Loved Bar Harbor and Halifax!! Toured on our own. Highly recommend Acadia’s National Park with Oli’s Trolley on Bar Harbor. In Halifax we rented a minivan with Dollar (inside the Lobby of the Hotel across the street) and drove to Peggy’s Cove. Beautiful place! Late May was very cold both at sea and in ports (low 40’s on Ports!) but had a great time. Debarkation was very easy and smooth. Read Less

I chose this cruise because I like Royal Caribbean and I didn't have to drive! But there are so many more reasons to take this cruise. The ship and staff, activities and lounge areas...all top notch! The Promenade Deck was a great place to hang out, lots of activities go on, theme music nights..great for a party atmosphere. The Activities staff were lively, friendly, and funny. There were more Trivia and other activities on this ship then I've seen on other cruises. Some were new and interesting (not just the Quest Game). We found the Imperial Room a comfortable place for a variety of activities. Schooner Bar was the trivia location...too small for the size of the crowds that attend the activity, so get there early if you want a good seat. The only negative regarding entertainment is the Production shows. I found them boring, hokey and out of date. But the comedians, and the mentalist were very good. There are electronic boards near the elevators with touchscreens you can use to find out what activities are going on, and to find your cabin! Bar Harbor is beautiful..if you want to shop and eat, no need for excursions, St. John and Halifax, I would recommend excursions, not much to do in the immediate area of port. Read Less

Chose this cruise for the itinerary and although the weather wasn't the greatest the ports were still wonderful and enjoyable. Ship is older but was clean and tidy except for very dirty outside windows. Since it is a smaller ship the crew is friendly and good at remembering you and making you feel pampered. Cabin 3124 is small, quiet and comfortable with adequate storage. Unfortunately Royal falls short when it comes to food quality at all levels. Windjammer's quality is at best, equal to Golden Coral. Many items over cooked, dry, tough and tasteless. MDR is about the same as Outback. Specialty restaurants are only slightly better. Service far out shined the food quality by a large margin. Cruise directors felt insincere and phony. Entertainment activities where lacking in originality and not the best fit for the passenger demographics of this cruise. Main theater under utilized for activities. Many were poorly timed causing overcrowding at the buffet, Due to smaller ship size, it does make it easier to make friends and connect with others. Kolada Read Less

About us: We are a retired couple in our early 70's. This was our 11th cruise, 2nd on Royal Caribbean. It was also our 2nd cruise to Canada/New England. We chose this particular cruise because our local AAA was running a special that would provide us with transportation from NE Ohio to and from the port of Baltimore. The ages on this cruise ranged from about 12 mos. to the mid 90's. Since school was still in session, there were only a few teens and grade school age kids. Most were in the 2-5 year old category and were very well behaved. Probably the majority of the passengers were in the 50-70 range. First, let me clarify that an average cruise is a good cruise. We had fun, we met friendly, interesting people, and we saw some interesting ports. There just wasn't a lot of the WOW factor I have come to expect from a cruise. One particular WOW--the crew was outstanding. They were polite, friendly, and always ready to help. On the first day, we noticed that the sink in our cabin was draining very slowly so we reported it to our steward, Rowena (a master of the towel animal, by the way). By the time we returned from dinner, it was fixed. Although we chose My Time Dining, we were asked to give an approximate time when we would be eating. We showed up every night between 6:30 and 6:45 and our table was always ready for us. Our waiters, Eloisa and Jely Ann couldn't have been nicer. Special mention also goes to the Cruise Director, John Blair, and his wife, Katrina, the Activities Director. They were probably the best we've ever had. John's Neil Diamond Tribute show is outstanding. The ship itself is older and is showing its age. I understand it is due for dry dock in a couple years. It was okay but nothing particularly exciting. Food in the Great Gatsby Dining Room ranged from very good to excellent. We ate there as often as possible, including breakfast and lunch when we could. The tomato sauce for pasta tasted a lot like what we had as kids on Spaghetti O's. On the other hand, food in the Windjammer was uninspiring. It was mostly same old/same old. Especially disappointing--the waffles, pancakes, and French toast were pro-cooked and just sat there under a napkin getting cold and hard around the edges. We saw most of the theatre shows, including Salute to Broadway and All Access featuring the ship's singers and dancers. We also enjoyed three of the guest entertainers, singer Michelle Murlin, Olympic gymnast Lance Ringnald, and Vegas star Clint Holmes. There were a few others we skipped. During the afternoons, pianist Anna entertained in the Centrum, She was great. The Bluewater Band took over during and after dinner, with plenty of easy listening and dancing music. We never did go to hear Giovanni in the Schooner Bar. The pool band, Positive Vibrations, didn't get much chance to play because the weather was so chilly. The bad: Mainly our cabin. We had an ocean view on Deck 2. I did not realize how much having the beds block access to the window would bother us, plus there's hardly no room to walk along the sides of the bed. I will never again sail without a balcony. I also feel RCI has gone overboard on either economizing or ecology consciousness, or both. Soap and shampoo made no lather. Toilet paper and facial tissue were flimsy and harsh. AND there was NO chocolate on the pillow! Now that's what I call bad. We booked all our shore excursions through the ship. The first port was Boston. We had been there many times before so we took the excursion to Historic Salem and the Witch Museum. We stopped at the Derby Wharf for lunch at a local restaurant and shopping at the National Parks Gift Shop, only we really didn't have time for both--just grab a bite and get back on the bus because we had to be at the Witch Museum by 1. So we got to the Witch Museum, saw the presentation, which was very good, and had 15 minutes in the gift shop. Then back on the bus and rush back to Boston. There was no time to walk around Salem. When we got back, we found out that the bus was taking another tour group somewhere. That's why we had to rush so much. In Portland, we took the Taste of Maine tour. We rode a bus to Long Lake and took a paddlewheel boat ride. A lunch consisting or lobster roll, potato chips, and bottled water was served on board, Then we took another bus ride to Pietree Orchard for some excellent apple pie and a hayride through the orchards, just budding for spring. We were only about 30 miles from the Maine/New Hampshire border, and you could see the snow on the mountains in the distance. In Bar Harbor, we took the Intimate Look at Acadia National Park tour. When we were here before, the weather (October) was beautiful but the park was closed due to a government shutdown. This year, the park was open but it was so foggy you couldn't see much. Still, our driver provided an interesting narrative and we stopped at Thunder Hole and the Jordan Pond House gift shop. The next port was St. John, New Brunswick, where we took the St. John and Bay of Fundy Top 10 tour. We saw the reversing rapids, bought candy bars at the City Market, and enjoyed a local entertainer singing Irish folk songs at O' Leary's Irish Pub, where we also had a glass of Moosehead beer. Then we rode out to the fishing village of St. Martin where we stopped for a delicious lunch of fish chowder or minestrone, biscuits, and freshly-baked cookies. We had time to walk on the beach and search for lucky stones. On the way home, we stopped again at the reversing rapids to see how the water level had changed. Our final port was Halifax, Nova Scotia, where we visited the Famous Peggy's Cove Fishing Village. The setting was beautiful, very photogenic, but it was COLD. The high was 44 degrees F, but the wind chill was down near 32. I bought a winter hat. We like the convenience of sailing out of Baltimore but probably would not do this itinerary again. There are some other interesting trips offered, so we might look into those. One piece of advice--wait until later in the year to sail north. This was the first trip of the year, and it was just plain chilly. Read Less

We haven't been on a cruise in many months and we haven't been on a Royal Caribbean cruise since 2008. Our previous experiences were all right; and we wanted to see New England as we've been the Caribbean far too often. Ports: I enjoyed the Itinerary. Boston was great, so much to do and a nice long time in Boston. Portland, Maine was fabulous, Bar Harbor, Maine was foggy and cold, and a lot of local businesses were closed (it was a Monday, and the place has a lot of Mom and Pop shops). Saint John was freezing cold, but folks were very nice and the city is very walkable. Halifax was amazing, almost as amazing as Boston. I wish we had more time there, the weather was damp, cold and freezing wind, yet the Titanic/Shipping museum was worth it. Ship: Old ship, small ship, the Atrium is in the Aft of the ship and where everything happens. The cruise director, John was amazing, (Hello John). They have a ton going on, great trivia, and activities and the show, "All Access" was great. The ship itself is old, and worn in parts, and the first night the plumbing went out and there was no water at all for a few hours (yikes!!!). Not technology updated as the internet was mega slow for everyone, and didn't work in the rooms, it worked well in the Forward public of areas. Not enough outlets to charge all our devices (two outlets per room, bad). The Bad: The food. The food was terrible. It was Stouffer's/Lean Cuisine'esque. Royal Caribbean is efficient, they close their restaurants on the dime, they don't waste food, they close things down quick. Also, they have a off hours cafe, the only issue it is located in the Adults Only section of the ship. I had to sneak my kids in their for after hours snacks. Food was bland, service was good, staff was nice, food just was abysmal, even in the up charge restaurant. Try the cruise, just make sure you eat off the ship!!!! Misc: Washy, Washy!!!! #StaffMemberInTheWindjammerCafe Read Less

Ship was great...comparable to Oasis. Balcony cabin wonderful 12540. Lots of storage. Food typical. Breakfast in American Icon, dinner in dining room. Not fan of Windjammer. Reserved entertainment was terrible. I would say that the average age on this cruise was 60 and the shows were for a much younger group...very loud/new age. Spectrum Cabaret was borderline demonic. Not to say they weren't talented just not for us...we left every show. The best shows were the ones that were NOT reserved, The Tenors, Elvis and the comedian were excellent. We did Tours on our own....Kennebunkport with Scenic Maine Tour co...very good. Rented a car from thrifty in Halifax, suggested from cruise critic...great!! Got to Peggy's Cove before all the crowds, then to maritime museum, then graveyard where some titanic victims buried, then Tim Hortons for a doughnut. Great day. Boston, used Old Town Trolleys to Paul Reveres house, USS constitution, and downtown. Read Less

This was our 18th cruise and our first Canada/New England. Carnival had no ships there in 2018 so we went on Royal. We have been on Allure and I consider it to be too big. Anthem is very large but did not have the problems of the Oasis class ships (small theater, comedy venue, etc.). Departure was smooth but traffic at the port is terrible and only about half of the drop off area is used. RCCL wants you to add a photo during the on line check in but this photo was not used. Photos were taken during physical check in and again at the ship. Why? Ship is beautiful. Very large but not overly so. The Sea Plex is a great space and much more usable than the ice rink on other ships. Loved the Music Hall venue but there are a limited number of seats where you can see the stage. Our balcony cabin was on deck 10 forward and there was plenty of storage space for three adults in our cabin. No issues with cleanliness and the decor and furnishings were fine. The quality of food in the main dining room was outstanding. Never even considered the pay venues. You will have to search high and low for some variety at breakfast and you may never find any. Windjammer was okay but try Two 70 and the Solarium. Entertainment is a mixed bag. Loved We Will Rock You, the Beatle Maniacs, Travis Levoy (Elvis show) and Name That Tune game show. Royal Swedes and the ship orchestra were very good. The Gift made no sense, left Spectra's Cabaret before it was over. Other bar singers were very average. I will include the casino here as I look at gambling as entertainment. Blackjack should be avoided. $10 tables have a number of special rules (120% payout for blackjack instead of 150%, no even money payout for blackjack when the dealer is showing a 10 card, etc.). Service in the main dining room was outstanding. Ari and Komang were our waiter team and I could not imagine them taking better care of us. Will stick with late seating. Boston - three ships were in port on the same day. Old Town Trolleys was sold out. We booked City View Trolleys at Quincy Market and they were cheaper. We did have to take a cab from the ship to Quincy Market and from the train station back to the ship but the prices were fine. Portland - very cold and windy but the distance to downtown is very walk-able and we found lots of interesting shops. Lighthouse tour was nice but the wind chill factor was probably below 30 degrees. Bar Harbor - tender, but my favorite port. Beautiful downtown with nice shops and restaurants. Acadia Natl Park was not at peak color but pretty spectacular. Halifax - Museum of the Atlantic and Titanic cemetery. Okay but not great. Saint Johns - port was closed so we spent 3 straight days at sea. Not ideal but the cruise line does not control the weather. Since this was Royal and a nine day cruise, prices were high. Very few kids and the average age of the passengers was probably in the mid 70's. I would not say the entertainment was scheduled with this in mind. Only two movies in the theater, disco was very late and very empty, no one watched any outdoor movies or sports as it was too cold. Read Less

We sailed on the Voyager of the Sea RC and it was fantastic. Thinking this was a newer ship we would be pleased. NOT! The food was not good at all. Service wasn't bad, but we had anytime dining and ate at The American Icon and Silk most of the time. Plain décor in the Icon and noisy. Food mediocre at best. Silk a little better. Ismael was wonderful as our server but again the food was thumbs down. We were on a New England cruise and had to pay for lobster except for one night and it was awful that night. Paying for a good fillet or lobster is something I never had to do on a ship. AND we had to pay $2.50 for a small bag of POPCORN! The "diner" on top deck was never used because you had to pay for a hamburger, fries and milk shake! Two 70 eating area had a good salad. Windjammer was always crowded and typical buffet food. Even the ice cream was bad. Drinks were very expensive too. Shows were not for the older crowd on board for sure. The Gift, Spectra Cabaret, and We Will Rock You did not interest 60-80 year old people. The Elvis impersonator was good and so were the Las Vegas Tenors. All games including Name That Tune were for younger people....I don't think a 78 year old knows Bono's songs. The days at sea were boring for sure and we never made it to St. John. I was kind of glad because it was a 12 hour stop. It was a very crowded ship too. Lines were long for the shows and they wanted you to make reservations that were not necessary. Ran out of hand sanitizer often. We did get to ride the local bus for free in Halifax. They said we could go anywhere we wanted on it. Won't do RC again. Read Less

This was our 13 or 14th cruise but only our 2nd on RCCL. We mostly sail with Princess as we are platinum members there. On our first cruise on RCCL I was not impressed at all! It was on the Explorer of the Seas. But I must say, the Anthem was great! We are 60 and 62 years old and traveled with our best friends. Starting with embarkation...it was the fastest we've ever had. Got there about 10:30am and only waited a short time. They told us we would board about 11am and I thought, ya right, but sure enough right on time 11am!! Then they told us our bags would be arriving starting at 1pm and again I thought, ya right, but sure enough..again on time. All our bags were there at 1pm. This has NEVER happened on any of our other cruises! Very impressed!! We did not go to the dining room not one time. We ate at the Windjammer every time because the food was SO good!! Again, we never had food this good on a cruise ship before! Usually the deserts look good but don't taste as good as they look but this time, they were delicious! The cheesecake tasted like New York style cheesecake!! LOVED all the FREE activities...North Star, bumper cars, roller skating, ifly, corn hole, xbox, ping pong, escape room, trapeze, just to name a few. I felt like a kid again enjoying the bumper cars! So fun!! The north star was enjoyable viewing Bar Habor. It goes 300 feet above the sea. So many free things to enjoy! The shows were great! Not your typical cruise ship shows. These were shows like you would see in Vegas. The only one I didn't care for was Spectra's Cabaret. Just not our style. The Gift and We Will Rock You were good. We made reservations for these shows before boarding the ship. The guest entertainers were very good. Travis LeDoyt, Elvis tribute was excellent! The magician was great! Our balcony cabin, 9708 was comfortable. A sofa and King size bed. The bed was a little on the firm side but still comfy. Quit a bit of storage and it was nice that our suitcases fit underneath the bed. A must!! Shower was big enough. Curved shower door instead of shower curtain. A lower bar for shaving legs was nice! Nice adjustable shower head. Two 110 outlets on one side of the bed and then one more at the desk. Also two USB chargers at desk. Balcony was rather small but big enough for two chairs and small table. I wish they would have had a few more TV channels. Not a whole lot to choose from. Our room steward, Jimbo from Nicaragua, was great and has been with RCCL for 25 years. Says they really take care of their employees. LOVED the adult only Solarium area. Deck 14, forward. Enclosed with several hot tubs and smaller pools. Seemed to have plenty of lounge chairs. Not sure if it would be hot in there in warm climates but the windows in there do open so it may be ok. Nice that they have the Solarium cafe in that area as well. It's smaller but nice that you don't have to go far to get a bite to eat. The pizza at Sorrento's was AMAZING!! Best pizza I have ever had on a cruise ship and maybe even anywhere! So good!! We had it almost every day! One day I even asked for a whole one and took it up to the Solarium. Perfect sea day! Enjoyed watching the robo bartender. Very cool but very expensive! But a must to at least watch! I bought the internet only for the last two days for $28 I think. Surprisingly it was pretty fast. A few things I was disappointed in...so many restaurants that cost extra. We didn't eat at any of them. Also, they had popcorn one day on deck 4, but it cost $2.50 for a small bag!! Ridiculous!! The emergency drill was a joke!! Seriously it was just a video and it was stupid. If you were a first time cruiser, you would not have learned anything from that video. I actually saw several people asleep!! Life jackets are not in your room anymore they are at your muster station. I really think they need to change their emergency drill. I know it's never fun to have to go to the emergency drill, but at least you would learn what to do in the event of an emergency. They no longer have lotion in your room. They do have shampoo dispensers though in the shower. Also they only give you two bath towels. Also it seemed their shops were more high end. They did have cheaper stuff laid out as vendors though. The ice cream cones on deck 14 underneath the North Star are really good but they are only open til 6pm which I don't understand. I remember that on the last RCCL cruise too. That just doesn't make sense. Overall I was impressed. I would definitely book again on this ship. In fact, I already did for next year. And even though there are 4200 passengers on this ship, we didn't feel over crowded at all. Not sure if our sailing was sold out or not but no complaints this time! Read Less

We chose this cruise because we wanted to do the New England Canada cruise. We embarked from Bayonne N.J. which was driving distance for us. Parked at the Bayonne Cruise parking which had the best pricing. It was easy to find, and they shuttled us to and from the cruise port. When we exited the ship, they were waiting and we got on the shuttle and were in our car within minutes. This was our 14th cruise, and third with RCCL, our first cruise with them was 1992, ans although cruising has changed immensely everything was quite good. The reason we had stopped cruising with them was the mandatory formal night , which no longer applies. Our room was a balcony with an obstructed view, which wasn't much of an obstruction, a little larger than some rooms we have had in the past. However; we don't really use the balcony or stay in the room, except to sleep or shower. The food was good, the dining room was very busy, but our service was good, we especially liked the Solarium Bistro which had Mediterranean style food, appetizers and desserts were served buffet style and served in individual serving dishes, and the main meal was ordered with a waiter. We did purchase a three night specialty restaurant package which has service and food like the cruising of yesteryear. Our favorite was Wonderland, which served food in an innovative, artistic style( you must be adventurous with food). Chops was great, but we were disappointed in Jamies. While the service was good, the food was nothing special. The entertainment was good, I especially liked The Gift. All of the shows were very contemporary and had great visual effects. Beatle Mania and the Elvis impersonator were great. Embarking and dis embarking were smooth. On the day of embarkment things are congested and people are trying to settle in and become familiarized with the ship, but after that things were fine.We only purchased one excursion from RCCL, and it was cancelled because of the weather, we were unable to dock in St. Johns and had an extra day at sea. The activity staff really did a nice job of re planning the day to stay at sea, and kudos for much of the staff who gave up their day off and worked worked so that the passengers experience didn't suffer. These people work long, hard days and they don't get enough credit. Overall good experience! Would take this cruise again. Read Less

The ship was excellent, so much to do, so organized, balcony room was worth every penny. The rooms were so clean, much better then i've found with other cruise lines. Employees were great, they even learned our names. Boarding and getting off the ship was very organized, quick, and efficient. Having the app to use was a very nice feature, I could upload a photo on the app rather then having to get a photo taken when I went to board the ship. I stayed in a balcony room and the room was very beautiful and very spacious actually. There were features in the room that made it great, such as a usb plug to plug my phone into rather then having to bring the charging block. There was so much to do and the booking process was very easy as well, that includes booking our excursions and purchasing our drink packages online. There isn't a single bad thing I could say about the boat, employees, or our trip in general. I really liked that the cruise line offered so many different excursions because booking excursions through the cruise line made me feel safe when off the boat and there was no shortage of options. Their private island CocoCay was beautiful as well, best port i've been to by far, the SeaDoo and glass bottom boat excursions were amazing - I would definitely recommend. I think the ship was well worth the money spent and I would strongly recommend it. Read Less

Royal Caribbean serenade of the seas was our first experience to Bermuda but our 3rd. cruise. Checking in on the ship went smooth and fast maybe 15min. Stepping first foot inside the ship we were greeted with live Caribbean singers/music and staff with drink trays. Bright colorful lights and beautiful decor. We walked the ship taking our own tour and found everything to be clean, new, big and colorful. So much to see and so much we wanted to do for fun later on. Our cabing was spacious and clean. Our steward met with us right away. Our luggage was already in our room. Hungry we set off for the buffet. Super friendly staff. Amazing yummy food choices. Fresh and presented beautifully. Right after we set sail and the entertainment begins. Shows, movies, live music all day and night. Pool and hot tub were super. Big screen tv played the sports over the pool outside. So much to see enjoy and do! Our stateroom balcony was lovely to escape with a cocktail and a book from the library. Daily itinerary was over the tv in our room. Easy to find and follow. Getting off the ship was simple, fast and easy. Excursions were easy to take offered at the dock. Getting back on the ship.was the same. Ship staff because friendly with us. The ship gave us spending money as a gift for our anniversary. So very overall pleased and already rebooked for the next cruise! Read Less

My wife and I just got back from a cruise to New England and Canada. This was our first trip there, our 3rd on Grandeur and our 7th cruise on Royal Caribbean. Itinerary had us on a 9-night trip, but Hurricane Michael ended up tweaking that schedule. This is a little long, but hopefully helpful … First, due to the storm, we were directed to report early to the ship for a 2 pm departure (vice the normal 4 pm) as they were hoping to beat the storm out of the Chesapeake Bay. However, the storm was moving faster than originally expected, so we sailed at 4 pm, stopped just outside of Annapolis, Maryland for the night, and then got underway the next morning after the storm had passed. That meant we'd miss our scheduled stop in Boston but having ridden through Hurricane Matthew last year on Grandeur, it was definitely the right decision. So we ended up with an extra sea day on our way to our first port of call....Bar Harbor Maine. (The crew did a great job laying on a lot of extra activities, mostly inside since the winds were high and the exterior decks were closed at times. This was true for much of this cruise.) Other thing I'll note....almost no kids on this cruise (less than 100 I'd guess) and the average age was probably the highest we've encountered. That's fine, but there were lots of wheelchairs and walkers. Also, this crowd was more of a main dining room crowd than a Windjammer crowd...so lines for breakfast and lunch in the main dining room, Windjammer less crowded than usual. OK...on to a regular review: Embarkation: We live 30 minutes from the cruise terminal so the drive is super easy. We arrived around 9 am ...dropped our bags, paid to park ($15/night), parked and walked back to the terminal. Virtually no lines at TSA or to check-in (we're Platinum Crown and Anchor)...they had us wait in the lobby for maybe 20 minutes and we were on-board by 10 am. We're very familiar with the ship and we were just on her in May so we wandered around a bit and waited for the lunch venues to open. We basically skipped lunch and just grabbed a couple of sandwiches from Cafe Latitudes, the coffee shop that offers free pastries in the morning, sandwiches at lunchtime, and cakes and sweats almost all the time. Meals: We love RCI but hate My Time Dining, so were fortunate to get 5:30 pm main dining room. That's a little early for us, but it worked out great. Food is fine considering how it's prepared and how many people they're serving. Each night there is a chef's recommendation and that's probably your best option. Waiters work very hard and seem to have less time to “get to know you,” but they do their best. Ours were Buyung and Ronald and we couldn't have been happier with their service. We don't normally make special requests, but this time we made two and they accommodated both. First, we were at a table for four but only my wife and I were there on the first two nights. We made friends with a couple during trivia and they noted they were the only two at a table for six. We asked if they could be moved to our table and after some discussion between the head waiters, they made the switch. Second, we told our section's head waiter that we would be at the main dining every night except for two. One for Chef's Table and the one other night when we wanted to go to the Windjammer for Indian food (Windjammer has a “Chef's choice” theme each night on a rotating basis (i.e. Italian one night, Mexican the next, British another, etc)). Our head waiter said, “no need to go up there, I'll bring you something." And he did. Every night. It was really good and my wife loved it (as did our table mates). In fact, my wife had that for dinner most nights. It really made the trip special for us. The head waiter's name is Sudhir Pillai and I noticed he took great care of his section and I'm pretty sure we weren't the only table he made special accommodations for...so it never hurts to ask. One night we did Chef's table. We signed up on the ship on embarkation day and they offered us a discount (about 20%), which we appreciated, but probably would have done it anyway. This was our 4th time doing Chef's table. We had a great group, the food is always good, and the wines are excellent. If you haven't done it, I highly recommend it despite the price tag. They seat no more than 14 people, it's 4-5 courses with each course explained to the group, usually by the chef, and paired with really quality wines (like $60-$70 bottles of wine), and it's all delicious. It takes 2-3 hours for the meal (which is fine as the company was good). I recommend doing it at least once if you like good food/wine and they offer the 30% off...take it. I believe it's offered almost every night. The only other specialty restaurant we did was Izumi. First, we signed up for the “make your own sushi” class (which you then get to eat afterward). Learned a lot and it was a lot of fun. That came with a 25% off coupon which we used for lunch on the last sea day. Izumi is up in the Viking Crown lounge area, so the views are nice and the seas were calm so it was very pleasant lunch. We like the “hot rock” which is kind of like a mini-hibachi. Highly recommend that. Breakfast most mornings was in the Windjammer. Lots of choices and seating was never a problem except for one morning, but we just walked across the pool deck into the Solarium and found a table there. The Park Cafe in the Solarium also has breakfast stuff (bagel bar, cereals, fruit, and breakfast sandwiches...it's a great option if you want less stress or to grab a quick breakfast.) The Shows/Entertainment First...Grandeur continues to have a great Activities staff. Because the ship is smaller, you really get a chance to interact with them, especially if play the games/trivia. This was cruise director Bob's next to last trip on Grandeur so there will be a new team soon, but we've always been happy with the Activities staff on Grandeur. The folks that ran bingo and line dancing and trivia and the game shows and..and..and...were great. Fritz from Philly (i.e. the Phillipines) and Katie from Australia were super funny and energetic...all the time. I couldn't do it. The featured performers were...pretty good. Pretty standard "off-Broadway" kind of thing. Becasue it was a 9-day cruise, they did two “big production” shows. Both were good and really featured the dancers as more than just back-up to the singers. The other nights had guest performers (a Celine Dion tribute singer, a couple of comedians, a male singer/impressionist, and one other that I'm forgetting). The ship's singer/dancers also did a show called “Seasons” in the Centrum that used to have a Cirque-de-Soleil-style (suspended from cables) component, but they removed the rigging so it was just singing/dancing...but still good. During the day we did trivia, the game shows, bingo etc....Lots of fun. Casino...pretty standard. Pretty lively. My wife won $250 on slots so were pretty happy with that. It is smokey as it's the only indoor smoking spot and since the weather was a bit off, a lot of folks went in there just to smoke. Outdoor pool was closed for most of the cruise or no one was in it due to the air temp. The hot tubs mostly stayed open. Solarium was busy but never overcrowded (we could always find seats) and we actually used the hot tubs almost daily on this trip. Room: Port side, 3rd deck, room 3084. Big window, fairly spacious (had the bed and a two-seater couch). No mini-fridge. Storage was pretty good...we had to get a little creative, but it works. At night, we could hear music from the Centrum fairly loudly, although that ends at 11 pm. If that bothers you, recommend staying more towards the aft end of the ship. Bathrooms are small but they made great use of space. Shower is a bit small and has a curtain vice the door on newer ships, but even still...I had no issue with the shower size. Toilets worked fine throughout the ship. Room steward Juana was great though she was that elf you hear about (you rarely see her, but you come back and your bathroom is clean and bed is made...). Departure: Departure was super easy. We carried off our luggage. We lined up around 6:45 am. About 7:15 we started debarking. Immigration and customs took less than 2 minutes. We were back to our car and on the road by 7:30. Excursions: Boston – canceled due to Hurricane delay. Bar Habor, Maine – Used the lifeboats as tenders (very cool, first time for us); max 10 minute ride from ship to shore. Drops you off right downtown. The town is small, easily walkable...very cute with tons of interesting shops and bars and restaurants. Beautiful views. We did a RCI sanctioned tour that was a 2-hour guided bus tour through Acadia National Park and ended with a lobster lunch (or steak) at the Bar Harbor Yacht club. Wasn't exactly what were expecting but it was sunny and relatively warm and we got some great views. We stopped at two spots for photos for about 20 minutes each. Guides were great. Wouldn't do this particular excursion again, but loved Bar Harbor and hope to go back. We were there about a week after peak color and after a storm had blown a lot of the leaves off already, but the colors were still wonderful. Portland, Maine - Docked pier side, again, right down town. We did a Foodie walking tour organized through RCI with a local guide. About 11 people in our group, all very nice. The guide took us to a number of local restaurant/shops while telling us about the town. First, we went to an organic food store that does amazing soups, all sourced locally. Then to a store that specialized in seaweed products (from tea to bath soap), very nice local owner and very interesting. Next was a family run Italian market with unique pizza. We took the pizza up to Shipyard Brewing Company for a flight of beers to sample, and then down to a local bakery for a chocolate chip cookie. Highly, highly recommend it. After that we walked around downtown for awhile but headed back to the ship a bit early as it began to rain. St John's Canada – canceled due to high winds (pilot couldn't get aboard the Grandeur to guide us in to the pier). That was disappointing but you can't control the weather. Halifax, Canada – Great pier facility, less than a half-mile from the main downtown area. We didn't book an excursion but chose to wander around on our own. We walked the length of the boardwalk (which has great views). Tons of interesting shop and restaurants there. Then walked up the hill to the Citadel, which we really enjoyed. There is an entry fee (about $5 US) but then everything is free inside. You can join a guided tour inside or explore on your own. As we walked back down, we wandered up and down the side streets (it's really nice) and found an outdoor food court on the boardwalk. I had fish and chips (about $15 US) and wife had a lobster roll (same price). Both were super good. We then wandered over to a local rum distillery (Halifax Distilling Company) that advertised tours. They weren't doing tours on the day we were there as a group had booked the whole restaurant for a private affair, but we did do a sampling at the bar and even bought a couple of bottles to take home as they don't currently distribute outside of Nova Scotia. Cool day! We absolutely loved Halifax as I think we just scratched the surface and hope to make it back again one day. I think that's long enough. Enjoy Grandeur of the Seas! We're going to try this route again, but go earlier in the season. Read Less

We selected this cruise to see the leaf color in New England and to celebrate my wife's birthday which occurred on the cruise--12 October. We've sailed from Baltimore before and it is one of the more convenient cruise ports from our home in Wake Forest, NC. We drove up the day before and spent the night at the Hampton Inn in Glen Burnie, MD. They offer a sleep, park, ride package that includes shuttle to and from the cruise terminal. Several days before leaving for the port, it became obvious that Hurricane Michael was going to affect our cruise in some way. RCCL sent us an email telling us to arrive early at the port so that we could sail two hours early to get out of the Chesapeake Bay and ahead of Michael. Embarkation at Baltimore went very smoothly. We all boarded early and were ready to set sail 2 hours early but the Captain announced that Michael was moving too fast so we were going to sail at the original time of 4pm, but would only sail for 2 hours and then drop anchor in the Chesapeake and wait for Michael to pass early the next morning. This now caused us to skip Boston and proceed straight to Bar Harbor, ME. We took the Best of Bar Harbor excursion which was very nice. Our tour guide was very good, a former teacher, but the highlight was the lobster bake! Best excursion meal we've ever had! Next port was Portland, ME where we met my wife's sister for sight seeing and shopping in Portland. Then on to St. John, New Brunswick which we had to sail by because of very high winds (50 its plus) so we could not dock. This was our second missed port due to weather. We then proceeded to Halifax, Nova Scotia where we took the top 10 tour. Again a very good tour with a very knowledgeable guide. The Grandeur was nice but is showing it's age. Our cabin was 3098, slightly aft of center and very convenient to the aft stairs and elevators. The cabin bed was lower than those on other ships which meant we could get our luggage under the bed. We had to stack the luggage in a a corner which cut down on our already limited space. We like early dining but could not get it so we dined 2nd seating at 8PM. Our wait staff was excellent. Nickolas, our head waiter, discovered we both like escargot so he arranged to have it for us every meal, even when it was not on the menu. The evening entertainment in the Palladium Theater was at 7:15 and 9:15PM. Since early dining was 5:30 and late at 8PM, this resulted in the 7:15 show being packed and the 9:15 show being sparsely attended. It would have been better if the early show was at 7 and the late show at 9, then more of the early diners would have attended the later show. Entertainment was top notch. The RCCL singers and dancers were superb and the guest entertainment was also excellent. Scheduled activities on sea days were for the most part disappointing. Only on the last day were there sufficient activities to keep us from being bored. Disembarkation went very smoothly. Our luggage tag number was 7 and we exited the ship about 15 minutes before the predicted time for our number. Crew and staff were awesome! Bob the Cruise Director was very personable and accessible. The last night featured a veterans recognition which was the best I've ever had on a cruise. It featured Tim, one of the singers, leading the singing of the national anthem and also a special rendition of Hallelujah. Not a dry eye in the Centrum! Read Less

We booked this NE and Canada 9-night cruise (as well as the following 5-night to Bermuda) because the Grandeur is our favorite ship. We sailed on it in Oct. 2015 and again in Feb. 2016, but with other cruises booked this was the first time that we'd had a chance to sail on it since it'd gone to drydock in 2016. Although we could not see many changes (except for the seating in the Great Gatsby Dining Room), it's still a great ship. While some guests may complain about its age (22 years old this December) and its lack of WOW activities, it remains our favorite. On both cruises, we had an outside stateroom on deck three: port side for the Oct. 11 cruise and starboard side for the Oct. 20 cruise. The cabins were mirror images of each other and offered a king bed, small sofa, typical bath and plenty of storage space for two adults who had packed for two weeks each. As to the ports, we missed Boston because of Hurricane Michael delayed the ship leaving the Chesapeake Bay until Sunday morning and we missed St. John due to rough seas kept the pilot boats on shore. In Bar Harbor, we booked and Acadia Park tour (3 hours) through the National Park Service - great tour at a great price. In Portland we booked the Foodie walking tour through the ship and in Halifax a food tour booked through Local Food Tours. The one in Halifax far exceeded the one in Portland in price and food quality. On the tour in Portland four locations and had soup, pizza, beer and cookies. On the Halifax tour, we visited eight locations and had chicken shawarma, fresh-pressed juice, beef donair (gyro) spring roll, pizza, fresh croissants and coffee, French chocolates and local candy. The Halifax tour was also $10 less per person! On the cruise to Bermuda, we took the sunset cruise on a glass-bottom boat. Very good tour. What we enjoyed the most about the cruises this time were: Cruise Director's Staff and their activities: various trivia and games, dance lessons, games of chance, etc. Variety of activities: shows, headliners, Real Time Band Dining room staff - especially XingXing our assistant both weeks who has now been promoted to Waiter (well deserved) Room Attendants Joseph and Enrico - we never saw them much, but our rooms were always clean and orderly Neil on the bar staff who always had a smile on his no matter what job he was assigned We have three other cruises booked at the moment, but hope to return to the Grandeur soon. Read Less

The food in the dining room on this ship is far inferior to any RC ship I have cruised on.Overcooked chicken and steak, and tasteless fish. The service in the dining room for breakfast and lunch was extremely slow, and very slow for dinner. We cruised on Carnival Miracle in September 2018 and the food was excellent. The cabin was a starboard side ocean view. It was very noisy; we could hear and feel a pump running, it seemed like every time someone flushed a toilet. What was worse, and dangerous, was that sewer gas would come up from the shower. I told the room steward and his response led me to believe that this was a known problem. I kept a wet wash cloth over the shower drain and this helped keep the smell to a minimum. I noticed that when I flushed the toilet the wet washcloth would bubble up where the gas was trying to escape into the room. Because of weather we skipped two ports. RC did not offer us any form of recompense, however our traveling companions were offered a discount on a future cruise. When we contacted RC to ask for the same offer we were told that no such offer existed. Our traveling companions sent us a voice mail from RC that they received making this offer. Read Less

The itentary- fall foliage Cabin, they have even ran out of facial tissues, received a note, sorry we are out with a room of toilet tissue! Service - diamond +++, they have ran out of all white Zens, there is no Chardonnay. Entertainment, C-, guess they are using the money on the bigger ships. Dining, same menu every four days, and if you are in a section with Pinnacle or Suite, you will just have to wait!. The ship is well maintained, but who ever did the planning and ordering really messed up. Plus they have been doing this run for two months, so it should be history. The on ship activities are located in small venues, such as Triva in the Scooner Bar, people are sitting on the floors and they refuse to change to the larger lounge that is one flight up. There is nothing even scheduled in there. Read Less

As a Diamond Plus member with over 50 cruises of various cruiselines, this was by far the worse cruise I have ever taken. The good. Embarkation and disembarkation went smoothly except for someone taking my luggage instead of their own to the airport. We both departed early, yet they got the jump on me and grabbed their bag. Port Everglades Royal Agent Maggie was excellent in confirming the passenger exited before me so we could confidently assume they took my bag which was similar. They eventually returned to the seaport when my bag was weighed at the airport. My cabin steward Richard on Deck 8 was excellent in keeping our cabin great, clean and attending to our needs and request. The bad: on Day 2 was supposed to take place at 4 pm per announcements made at 3:50 and Compass. It was cold and drizzling in Quebec City. Due to the delay of Royal excursions, while most of us stood either outside or inside (certainly not even enough seats for the elderly) for 45 minutes the emergency drill whistles did not go off until 4:30 and the muster did not end until 4:45. With 1300 elites on board, two of the four elevators to the Diamond and Suite lounges were inoperable the entire 13 night cruise, leaving most to have to walk up. While four contractors were visible on occasion working on the elevators, I mostly saw them in the Windjammer eating vs actually working. Needless to say there were not enough room or seats, even when the overflow were allowed into the Viking Crown. I did not see the Diamond Concierge until Day three, as he was out sick due to back pain for the first two days. The first two nights of the D event were by far the most disorganized. When he did return he was unable to book reservations for the times we wanted, although we tried on our own to book specialty reservations immediately when we embarked. He rarely left his desk and didn’t get up and chat with any passengers. Due to the cold weather and age of the average passenger, the ship seemed to be overly crowded as no one was on the pool deck and their did not seem to be enough seats in the interior. The Adventure Solarium is not covered so it too was too cold to attract passengers during its voyage. Finally when we reached warmer climate and the ability to use my balcony, I get a letter stating I may NOT use my balcony from 9-4 while docked in Port Canaveral while they varnish my balcony rail. So of two days I can sit out, one I can’t. They should have done it earlier in our cruise when it was too cold to sit out. During our Portland Lighthouse ship tour, we left late because the bus they sent did not know how to operate the wheelchair lift as we had a passenger who needed that service. The driver mentioned they only have a couple of these types of lifts and it was the first time he was using it. Again, everyone was held off the bus in the cold while they figured it out. I felt badly for the woman in the wheelchair as well. She only got off at one lighthouse. the food hardly changed from day to day in the Windjammer. Other than carving station, the offerings were the same. I will say I think Royal’s desserts were good. Giovanni’s menu was awful. It was small and how can an Italian restaurant not offer lasagna. Chops was no better. Actually the filet mignon was better in Giovannis. TV offerings were awful. Royal did not take the weather or audience into consideration. Showing two movies a day at least OUTSIDE where the weather was awful. I would have gone to a movie in the theater during the bad weather. We skipped Sydney and did not get an updated compass until 4 pm. Yet with bad weather, we witnessed their lifeguards mandated to stand in the cold empty swimming pools. I guess they lost some lawsuit, but it looked and was insane to make the lifeguards do this when there were no children in the pool and I believe only 7 onboard. I only saw two children and a poodle. Read Less

Ports of Call! Started in Quebec City and docked in Nova Scotia, Halifax, Portland, Boston and then to Florida. Our Cabin was situated near the elevator which was nice. The elevators however were horrendous. They were doing maintenance on 2 elevators which made it difficult but what made it frustrating was that the other elevators would bypass our floor with one or two people on them. This was a major gripe of just about all passengers. The staff was terrific. We had only one or two exceptions to that review. The Chops Grille was just okay. Giovanni's and Izumi were both fabulous. Exiting the ship at the ports of call could have gone better. In some instances we waited on long lines to get off. The shows were pretty amazing. RC dancers and ice shows were great. The Tenors of Las Vegas did a great job as did the pick pocket. Giovanni, the pianist was awesome...great entertainer...lots of fun. We took a tour to Peggy Cove and also to Kennebunkport. Both were fabulous. Very informative and picturesque. However, the daily activities were just so-so. Very repetitive. Coffee bar on 5 was good and had a nice variety of food. We chose anytime dining. It was mostly good. The Windjammer was okay. Desserts were the same for the most part and were just okay. The sweets in the Windjammer were the same every day. There were a few good things but probably not worth the calories. The one very positive thing was the staff. Most were eager to please and could not be more helpful. This was our first RC cruise. We will probably stick with Celebrity or chose another line in the future. Read Less