Pros:
Loved the ports - beware though tendering at Zakynthos; unless you had a ship tour booked you could wait 3 hours plus to get off (we gave up)
But the ships tours WERE very good and would recommend.
I had the “key” package and loved the little perks (great WiFi!)
Food - excellent food in MDR and service (buffet not so good - food often tepid and dining area itself is dismal ...
We chose this cruise as we are Diamond Class on Royal Caribbean and so far they have never disappointed. We wanted to try this ship as the only RCI Southampton based and needed to sample before commiting to other sailings. For us this ship is too big and even though it was not a School break there were 500 children on board. We had a balcony but also a young family either side, when they were ...
I have been on the Empress, Freedom, Enchantment with upcoming cruises on Celebrity Ascent and Radiance. Enchantment has been my least favorite. I will say that the service was good. Drinks were good as well as the ports. This cruise was more about the itinerary than the ship. I would never recommend this ship to just be on the ship.
Issues
Cabins. Very dated. We were in a Junior Suite. ...
The food was mediocre at best.
The itinerary was why we chose this cruise. I have been around long enough to know that the new, splashy ships have the least interesting itineraries, and the older tired ships have the most interesting itineraries. However, I did not expect the older ship to offer subpar food and experiences.
The salad dressings had no flavor at all, and the soups were just ...
We chose this cruise primarily because of the itinerary. We are not novice cruises, having done over 60 of them. The ship is older, but appears to be well maintained for the most part. Embarktation was slow, stood in line for over an hour before we boarded. We had a balcony cabin that was spacious and featured good storage. Most employees try very hard to please, but overall management is ...
Cleaning of rooms only once a day.
You can choose either in the morning or in the evening.
Very poor desserts, both in the buffet and in the restaurant on the 3rd floor.
We tried breakfast at the restaurant on the 4th floor. We won't do it anymore.
There was very small selection of food.
Price of drinks includes service charge.
The quality of the food, not like in the past.
...
We booked this cruise in part to celebrate a 50th birthday and because the previous two we'd tried were cancelled due to COVID (more of that later).
This was the third cruise with RCCL, having sailed on Independence in 2016 and Explorer in 2019. We adored Indie, everything about that cruise was incredible, and couldn't fault a thing, Explorer was also great, albeit being a slightly older ship ...
We booked this cruise as we have wanted to visit a bit more of Spain plus Islands. This cruise only went in August. We were quite satisfied with the ship although looking out from our balcony in the middle deck 9 the lifeboats got in the way. We had what seemed to be a very noisy cabin. Metal banging and scaping that went on for hours from 11pm to 4 am every night we only got about two hours sleep ...
We have very few fixed weeks of vacation each year, and this was one of them. Took my 89 year old dad and handicapped nephew, hoping to find some interesting ports and ship entertainment and quality family time.
The ship has NOT been renovated. Furnishings, both soft and hard goods, are old and worn. The Hallways smell strongly of must, mold and mildew. Rooms were better, however when moving ...
We sailed on Anthem from Southampton in July 2023 for 14 nights around the western Mediterranean - predominantly Spain but we did have two days in Lisbon (Portugal).
Embarkation in Southampton was pretty sleek and quick as it normally was and it as also nice not to have to go through the additional Covid requirements that we needed to do the last time we cruised as a family. First impressions ...