9 Nights Mediterranean: Italy, France & Spain Cruise

Lengthy review

We decided to do our first ever cruise as a way to celebrate our youngest daughter graduating from high school. She wanted to do one day at Disney World, so we chose a cruise leaving from Port Canaveral. We did a 4 night cruise on Utopia that went to Nassau and CocoCay. Since I had read that Nassau was the lesser popular of the two ports, I only booked a catamaran excursion (I think the name on the catamaran was Seahorse but not 100% sure). This excursion took us around part of the island where we saw points of interest and celebrity homes. The tour guide Chris was hilarious. On way back, he played fun music and everbody enjoyed the open bar and dancing along. It is quite a walk to the meeting place but this excursion was something all 4 of us enjoyed (our daughters are 19 & 23). The next day was in CocaCay. We did a Wave Runner excursion. This was fun to be out on the water driving 25-40 MPH on the Wave Runners following a guide (with another one in the back of the group). We did this at 8:30 in the morning... it lasted about 1.5 hours. We then headed to CocoBeach Club to use our day passes. We thoroughly enjoyed looking out and getting in the water. The beach was perfect , the water felt great, and we had a nice sunny day. The day pass included an awesome lunch as well. We had several yummy drinks and really just enjoyed unwinding this day. My only complaint is when the low tide set in, it change the landscape drastically. As for Utopia itself, we enjoyed all the shows offered but our favorites were the Ice Skating and adult comedy ones. We also went to Name that Tune and it was so fun and entertaining both because the singers and dancers from the All-In show were part of the entertainment on this game show. Our girls didn't do the pool or hot tubs because of how crowded they were. I'd rate the cruise a 10/10 for my husband and I and an 8/10 for our young adult daugthers. They aren't much into the party scene and had I been their age, this would have been something I did for sure! I was always willing to stay up much later than them on this cruise to enjoy the live music, etc. They still had a good time but said their favorite was CocoCay relaxing on the beach. The beds in our ocean view balcony were very comfortable and we loved the amount of storage, plus walking out on balcony early morning or at sunset was breathtaking. Our stateman was just super awesome and friendly. We tipped him well. He left cute animals made from towels each day. The service in everything we did was just awesome! We pre-paid gratuities but still decided to tip waitstaff, etc. The food was also fantastic! The Windjammer gets pretty crowded but it was bearable. We did the Main Dining Room for dinner 2 nights and did Mason Jar for one paid meal for dinner and food at both was great! We didn't fully understand until the end by the MDR noticed and maybe seemed disappointed we weren't at our 5:00 showing (we missed it the first night and went later) and had reservations at Mason Jar the secone night) and realized we would have had the same table and waitstaff and the waitstaff probably looks at this as an opportunity to possibly earn more tips by having the same family for multple meals, so we understand now. They were awesome! I've typed a novel, but we'd for sure do a Royal Carbbean cruise again and in fact planning to next. year.

Loved the cruise, will cruise again on MSC

cruised on Princess 3 months ago and cruised MSC now. What a difference, MSC was really a great experience for me and kids. There is a waterpark inside the ship as well. The food is much improved and great variety every day at the buffet The white party was icing on the cake and we just loved the "different kind " of party at the MSC. The DJ was awesome. We also attended a few shows at the theater and you have to make reservations ahead of time. The live music was outstanding. The Rooms are of decent size and we had a sofa bed instead of a pull down. The Airconditioner inside the room was outstanding, really kept it chilled cold. The only downside i saw was that they dont allow a bottle of wine per person and you cant get soda. The internet package - once you register a device you cannot switch it.

Harmony is Phenomenal - few issues

So my wife and I have been on 6 cruises. We just got off Harmony yesterday and overall we had a great experience. Our room was a balcony overlooking the park which is a great value and we highly recommend it. Looking back on everything, we only had a few negative things to say about it compared to our other cruises. The dining experiences is where the biggest opportunity lies. The food was not good at all compared to other cruises. The preparation was like cafeteria food…no seasoning, no “soul”, plain vegetables and a protein thrown on the plate. The desserts had absolutely no flavor. It was pretty bad and Royal definitely needs to fix this. Our servers were great but brought out each course in rapid succession which felt a bit rushed. We noticed that the staff overall were not as friendly and bubbly as usual but the service was good. The other negative in the dining room was that not many people dressed nice even on formal nights. There should be more emphasis on dress code even if it’s not enforced. I understand not enforcing it but more should be written and talked about as far as acceptable dress code because it ruins the special feel of the dining experience to have people in t shirts when you are wearing a suit. This ship did not have a fancy feel compared to some others. It was very plain looking but well kept. It was really expansive which made for a less crowded experience. The last problem exists on all of the cruises. Someone needs to fix the disembarkation process. It’s even more of a problem on a large ship like this. Maybe they could try getting off the ship by floors and scanning people out by floors and giving times but something has to be done when 6000 people are all trying to use the elevators at the same time and the lines and chaos are crazy! Overall.. a great experience and we would do it all over again