tahkli71

Just announced April 29, 2016 as my "retirement" date. Don't want to stop working but my body is telling me it's time to stop doing this job. 23 years is a good run. Time to explore, take journey's, fly fish, and cruise to Barbados.

I erred. It's Cafe Promenade that's complimentary.

We did not get one for our cabin. Don't know about others. There was a menu on the tv but we could not get it to function.

Oh and The Grande was very nice. Very good food.

Ate at Chic twice - very nice. Silk was a disaster in all areas, all of us did not care for it. La Patisserie is a small coffee shop and pastry shop on deck 4 that opens very early for us early risers. It's complimentary.

Hot water in the cabin is very, very hot - be careful.

The desk has very poor lighting - FYI - there is a light around the mirror.

Evidently, the fridge has no vent in the back because the heat given off from the cooler/chiller, rises into the top drawer (above the fridge) don't put anything in there that will melt (i.e., lipstick).

Storage space above the bed should have handles or a sign. We did not find it until day 5!

Stores on board are small and very high end. Mostly jewelry and watches.

The duty free shop ran out of Grey Goose on day 4.

If you are travelling with a group and you have side-by-side cabins, the cabin steward can open the doors between the balconies. Just ask.

The artwork on board is terrific. I am not an art aficionado, but it's worth paying attention to.

If you are looking for an isolated and private space for under 6 people, try deck 5 under the lifeboats.

WJ had a dinner menu each night with half-price glasses and bottles of wine. We did a wine and cheese dinner one night and it was fabulous (however, you are in WJ). You can take any unfinished wine to your cabin or to one of the comp. restaurants.

In order to turn on the lights once you enter your cabin, you must insert a sea pass card to engage the electricity and leave it there.

IMHO, this cruise felt like a training cruise for the staff for their journey to China.

Last thought, make sure you have all of your medications prior to departing. Visiting the infirmary on board is time consuming, expensive, and a little frightening. The doctor who consulted with my wife (she left her BP meds behind) did not know an equivalent generic drug nor could she give us a dosage based on what my wife told her she took. Called her doc from FL, all good.

Finally, on a scale of 1 to 10 our 6 person group gave the total experience: 7.5, 9.0, 9.0, 8.0, 8.5, and a no vote. As you can see by the range of numbers, it's really about what you felt, not anyone else. I was the 7.5 by the way.

There have been some great live and post-cruise reviews of QOS. I thought I would add my 2 cents in three parts, First, what I liked and did not care for. Second, thoughts, day-by-day, through the week. Third, just general comments. Remember, these are my opinions and thoughts based on 6 past cruises with three different lines.

Liked:

The ship. It's beautiful.

North Star - Amazing. Did it twice.

The shows - saw all of them including the robotic displays in Two70.

Two USB ports on the desk and one on one of the night stands.

Plenty of empty deck chairs, other than directly around the pools.

Cococay - well managed, great food, pleasant to the eye.

The technology.

Our cabin steward, Mr. Wan, was outstanding. Cabin 10380.

Nicer bathroom set-up and seemed larger.

Coffee in La Patisserie.

Chops - outstanding food, presentation, and service.

Chic, American Icon, and Windjammer - all good to very good food.

Still enjoy seeing a towel animal in the evening.

Solarium was a nice place to hang, read, hot tub, bar, no kids.

Last but not least, the ride. It was the smoothest sailing I've been on.

Did not like so much:

Lack of service attendants in Windjammer. No more coming around and getting you coffee and or juice in the morning.

Lack of service attendants around the pool and deck areas. They were non-existent.

Only two electrical outlets in the cabin. Should have brought a strip.

Our cabin was laid out with the bed next to the sliding glass door.

Coffee in WJ was just awful.

No room service menu for tea or coffee in the morning.

RCCL either needs to enforce the formal attire for The Grande, of just forget it. Allowing guests in with short sleeve shirts and jeans should not be acceptable - and no they did not have the jacket supplied by the staff hanging from the chair.

Salt shakers in Chic had a dispensing head the size of an M&M. Had to open to get salt and pepper out.

No deck light on the balcony.

Pools seem to be way to small for a ship with over 4,000 guests.

Finally, my biggest dislike, leaning toward hatred, was the reservation system for dining and shows. Both prior to sailing and on the ship.

We also sailed out of PR on AOS when the prop system failed. Eventually we sailed; missed a few ports; had a great time in all ports except St. Croix - that place was a dump. RCCL gave us our money back and 50 percent off our upcoming cruise on QOS. It was late but fair. Stuff happens, it's how it's handled that tells the story. Go on your cruise with an open mind and no preconceived worries.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Just got off AOS yesterday. Our cruise started with a 3.5 hour delay in Philly due to two (2) separate mechanical issues. Arrived at the port at about 3:30 pm only to find about 2,000 passengers standing outside in the 90 degree temps. We lined up like everyone else expecting at any minute to go aboard. There we stayed till 5:30 pm with no water,. no food, and most importantly, no RCCL staff on site to answer questions, give out info, etc. Finally got through the queue and onto the ship only to find out we were not going anywhere because of the problem with the fixipod that broke the week before. We were told the following: leave at 10:00 pm Sunday; leave at midnight Sunday; leave at 10:00 am Monday; 2:00 pm Monday; very, very late Monday night; early Tuesday morning; 2:00 pm Tuesday; very, very late Tuesday night; and noon on Wednesday. Just as a note, my cabin was directly above the open top "honey dippers" that were emptying our personal waste. MMMMM.

During the delays and promised times of departure, we received communication from the captain about a $250 on board credit, then a $500 on board credit, then, as people made arrangements to depart the ship late Tuesday and Wednesday morning, we got good news - all our cruise fare was being refunded and we were receiving a 50% discount on a same price cruise to be used in the next year.

We lost our stops in Barbados and St. Martaan but did stop at the other 3 islands on the itinerary. They shortened them by an hour or two but nobody really cared at that point. We just wanted to sail and see something.

Overall, I give RCCL a 8.5 for doing what was right for it's customers. Lack of info on that first day was their biggest downfall.

Now for the cruise itself. AOS is old and tired. Visible rust on the verandas, worn out towels, chips on the wooden accessories, faded carpeting and drapes, very aged pool area. Can someone explain to me why RCCl would keep one pool closed during our time in San Juan and open it when we are visiting ports of call? Made no sense to me. Good thing she is going in for re-furbishing.

Food was actually very good. Nice variety in Mozart dining room. Chefs stepped up their game. Windjammer was okay - only ate breakfast there twice. Lunches around the pool were very nice - paella and barbecue. Breakfast in Mozart was very good. Portofino's was well worth the extra $25 for us. The food was creative, tasty, and presented well. The wine list needs some help.

Entertainment is not RCCL's strong point. The ice show was very good, everything else was like watching a high school group perform. I'm sure the kids gave what they had but it was not worth the time. The Elton John impersonator was embarrassing.

If you paid me to go to St. Croix, I doubt I would go. Very unimpressive stop. Antigua was interesting but has a lot of poverty that was visible throughout our tour. St. Lucia was the highlight of the week. Our tour with James Tours was fantastic. James was waiting at the dock for the six of us even though we were two days late. At first we were tightly packed into a taxi rather that James's bus but we soon rectified that by letting him know that it was not going to work the way it was set up. He rearranged us and we ended up in a comfortable air conditioned van. His pricing is higher than RCCL tours and what you get off the street but we got to personalize where we went and what we wanted to see. We also received a beautiful and savory lunch overlooking the Pitons. For our group it was well worth extra few dollars. If you book, try to get Daisy for your guide - she was informative and fun to be with.