Sovereign Review 3/14 Sailing

[MLB]

My family sailed on the Sovereign on the 4 day itinerary. Our family includes me and DH, our almost 8 year old son and almost 5 year old daughter. DH and I sailed once before on RCL but it was over 10 years ago on the Empress (then called Nordic Empress instead of Empress of the Seas). We also took a family cruise on the Golden Princess to the Eastern Caribbean 3 years ago. We picked this cruise for the length (4 day), price (reasonable), and Coco Cay.

 

EMBARKATION:

We arrived about 11:30-11:45. We had rented a car from Avis and they drove us the 2 miles to the pier. They dropped us off right in front of the luggage men and it was nice not having to wheel our luggage anywhere. It didn't take us long to get through security. Once through and upstairs, we waited about 10 minutes to check in. There was a long line of people who had already checked in as they didn't let anyone onto the boat until about 11:45. We made it on about 12:20 and went up to the Windjammer. The food was OK and the tables were crowded. It might be better to try and board a little later. Anyone arriving in the Windjammer after 1:00 had an easier time as many of the people had finished eating and headed to their cabins by then.

 

CABINS:

We decided to spend a little extra money and has adjoining cabins, 3070 and 3076. We loved the location, very close to the stairs and elevators. We occasionally heard noises as people talked as they walked by our doors, but nothing from the elevator lobby. We were also close to the dining room and were happy to be assigned to the one on the same deck. It was nice not having to worry about elevators during prime dinner times. We did take elevators a bit more than we wanted to due to DH's sunburn. (He missed a few spots while at Coco Cay).

 

The cabins were small, but we had plenty of storage. The shower hardware was nice. The stall was small as expected, but I liked the instant hot water at 38 degrees celcius and it was very easy to adjust higher or lower.

 

The toilets were not working on Monday until sometime in the afternoon due to work on the plumbing systems. DH's nose is always more sensitive than mine. I didn't mention the possibility of a sewer smell and he never mentioned smelling one.

 

FOOD:

We ate dinner each night in the dinning room. The food was well done and presentation nice. I would have preferred a couple more choices as I had trouble picking a dish one night. The waiter always suggested one or two of the appetizers and entrees. The wait staff was very accommodating and helped make the meals fun for the kids. We left the ship with two napkin mice the waiter told us to keep. One night the kids ate with the Adventure Ocean group and loved that as much as we loved dining outselves. We had requested a large table and were a little disappointed to eat at a table for 4. It was spring break and there were large families and groups.

 

We ate lunch 2 days in the Windjammer. The food was good for a buffet, but not great. Few selections changed from day to day. We had lunch on Coco Cay one day (very good) and at Johnny Rockets. As past cruisers, we had 2 coupons for free meals there. The waiter didn't charge a cover for the kids which was nice. The fries and onion rings were excellent. I ordered a grilled cheese which was cold so then I had a burger which was very good. The milkshakes were delicious as well.

 

We ate breakfast in the windjammer each day except the last day. The selections tasted good, but didn't change from day to day and got a bit boring. Breakfast on the last day was fast in the dining room and tasty. The kids commented to themselves that they wanted extra hash browns and a couple of minutes later they appeared in front of them. I would have eaten in the dining room for breakfast (and maybe lunch) more if we weren't traveling with the kids. Buffet food is better for them as it is faster.

 

The Windjammer wasn't always open when we wanted to eat. It was always closed at 10:00pm when we wanted to get a snack for the kids. They didn't complain about pizza every night from Sorrento's. Windjammer was suppose to be open for snacks from 3-5 in the afternoon, but when we went at 4:50, it was already closed.

 

COCO CAY

 

We had a beautiful day on the island! The crew said that it was the best day weather-wise they had in 2005 thus far. It was in the low 80s with no wind. We rented snorkel equipment and swam out to the airplane. Visibility was good once we got away from the beach and we saw several cool fish. The kids enjoyed the Adventure Ocean area playing sand and water games. All the kids are in the same area on the island. They were there for about 2 hours in the morning and another 2 after lunch. (DH had too much sun and we gave them a choice of returning to the ship or returning to the kids area. DH went to the ship and I found a shady hammock nearby. It was great!) We enjoyed the buffet and the burgers were tasty. I was surprised that they tasted hot and fresh…much better than standard buffet burgers.

 

On the four day cruise, Coco Cay is scheduled for the first full day (Tuesday). The crew mentioned that if they can't stop at Coco Cay on Tuesday, they try and go there on Thursday which is the scheduled sea day. We didn't have to wait, but it was nice knowing that we had two chances to stop at the island.

 

NASSAU

 

We weren't going to do an excursion in Nassau because nothing thrilled us. I did consider goint to Stuart's Cove, but I wanted to stay on an RCL sponsored trip as our kids were staying on the boat. I know we could have, but I didn't want to. We did decide the day before to go snorkeling. We did the Rainbow Reef trip. The ocean was choppy so we actually went to another reef, the same one the SeaTrek Sailing and Snorkling trip went to. There were 4 boats snorkeling there at the same time so it seemed a bit crowded. The water was clear and there were lots of fish. I missed them, but there were also 2 wild dolphins swimming with us. The excursion summary said that we'd be gone for 2 1/2 hours. It was closer to 3 1/2. I'm glad we didn't have an afternoon excursion booked or we would not have had any time for lunch. After returning to the boat for showers and lunch, we walked through some shops and the straw market. We didn't buy much.

 

Nassau day was also formal night. Seemed strange as we were actually in port until midnight.

 

ADVENTURE OCEAN

 

As I mentioned, our kids participated in the 3-5 and 6-8 age groups. On the first night, there was a 30 minute show in the Follies Theater. It was the "Adventure Ocean Family Welcome Aboard Presentation." Basically, the staff introduced themselves and spoke for a few minutes before the program officially opened. We had registered the kids earlier in the day. The kids both enjoyed the programs. They did things like face painting, kite making, and a pirate parade. If anyone has further questions, please let me know.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

 

On opening night, we had a guest comedian. He was only on the ship for 2 cruises. Billed as "The Opening Act of Jerry Seinfield and Tim Allen," David Orion was very funny. We all enjoyed his show. He was better than the other comedian. We also watched the 2 production shows with the singers and dancers, Flashback and Dancin' Thru the Movies. The first one was better, but personally I prefer the comedians. On Nassau day, there was only one show for both dinner seatings and I was looking for something to do between dinner at 6 and the Love and Marriage game at 10.

 

Entertainment summary:

Day 1: Welcome Aboard show featuring David Orion, Dueling Pianos (the only early time at 5:15. Other shows were past my bedtime.)

 

Day 2: Flashback, Quest. (We missed Quest, but I wish I had been able to see it.)

 

Day 3: Variety show with Rodney Johnson and Due Szabo, Love and Marriage Show, Formal Night, Captain's Cocktail party

Day 4: Dancin' Thru the Movies

 

CROWN AND ANCHOR

 

We received small bags for cosmetics as well as some postcards and the coupon book. We used out Johnny Rockets coupon, Free Internet coupon (10 minutes), and buy 1 drink get 1 free coupons. They messed up our billing and forgot to remove the internet charges so I had to stand in line Friday morning, but they didn't question it when I asked them to remove the charge..

 

DISEMBARKATION:

 

It was relatively painless. We were brown and called somewhere in the middle of the pack. We were lined up for about 10 minutes before we got off the boat and our luggage came off the carousel within 5 minutes. It was even together!

 

OVERALL:

 

We enjoyed the cruise and will cruise again in a few years. I think the food was better on Princess, but we will definitely consider RCL again.

[MLB]

We brought one home because my kids wanted to keep the picture. Kids could order off the regular menu or the kids menu. Here is what was on it:

 

Drinks:

Milk, plain or chocolate

The Juiciest Juices

 

Fruit Cocktail

Soup of the Day (Same soup as the regular menu)

Chef Salad

Tuna Salad

Veggies and dip

Fried fish nuggets

Chicken Fingers

Mozzarella sticks

Tomato and Cheese pozza

Minute steak with mashed potatoes

Spaghetti

Macaroni and Cheese

Hamburger

Cheeseburger

Peanut butter and banana and jelly sandwich

Hot dog

[maggieworkman]

Thanks for the review and kids menu. Do you know what the "minute steak" is?? My DD loves steak.

 

Maggie

[Emmabelle]

Thanks for the review, we're doing the same cruise on April 18, do you know what time you were able to disembark from the ship? Just curious since we are traveling to Disney for the weekend after the cruise. Did you buy the soda card or know what they charged for it? Thanks! :)

[MayBTheresHope]

MLB,

 

Thanks for the thorough review. I have a couple of questions, though. How was the cruise director? Do they have a passenger talent/karaoke contest? Any help you can give is greatly appreciated.

[LKitt82566]

We are going on the April 18 cruise also. We are a group of teachers and friends flying down from West Virginia for Spring Break. Hope to meet you aboard the ship.

[Emmabelle]

I can't wait, see you there Lkitt! :)

[richs52]

I was also on this sailing. They had 2 different types of Karaoke on two different nights. They have "Rock-a-Rokie" one night in which you get to sing with a live band in the Volatge lounge. I was really looking forward to this, but the song choices were VERY limited. They only had a one sided sheet with maybe 25-30 songs to choose from. They also had what was called "Family Karaoke". I didn't attend this one, but I imagine it was for parents and kids.

 

The cruise director was Chris Armas. He was pretty good. The only one I have to compare him to was Ken Rush and we thought that Chris was better...seemed a little more genuine.

 

Hope this helps.

 

-Rich

[Alikona]

MLB,

 

Thanks so much for your review. We are sailing this Christmas on the Sovereign and we have two girls ages 6 and 9 so I have several questions about the Adventure Ocean club. What activities do they do for the kids? When and how do you sign up for the orientation/show? I have been to Nassau once before and am not a huge fan - any suggestions on doing this port with kids? I was planning on doing the snorkeling excursion. Does Coco Cay have a playscape in the water for kids (I think I heard this somewhere)? If so, does it cost to get in? Thanks so much in advance for answering my many questions!:)

 

Allison

[alleauna]

Just wanted to say thank you as well for your review! We'll be on the same cruise in September. :) Most of my questions have been asked (we have a 5 y.o. as well), so I'll wait to read your replies to those. Thanks again!

[MayBTheresHope]

Thanks a lot for the info! : )

[MLB]

I do have all of my Compasses plus the kids ones. I can look up more specifics in the morning.

 

My kids never had a minute steak, but there is also stead every night on the adult menu your kids could order if they didn't like the kids version. I believe there is also salmon, chicken, and spaghetti on the daily menu.

 

The first passengers were allowed off the ship about 7:45. Our color was called about 8:45. We were in our rental car by 9:30.

 

The day you board the ship, Adventure Ocean is open for registration and tours. All you have to do is go there and they will give you a form to complete for each child and you can check out the facilities. That makes it much easier to drop the kids off that night. Anyone can go to the Adventure Ocean family show, but if you don't have kids it isn't worth the time.

 

On Coco Cay, there is a fenced area for the kids program. It is all sand with a little area of shade. There are many sand toys for the kids and a hose for the counselors to use as needed. I think there used to be a water playground, but it was destroyed in the hurricanes. My 7 year old tried snorkeling on the island. It took him some time to get used to it, but I bet if we worked on it longer he would have easily gotten the hang of it. Our main problem is that his vest wasn't tight enough around his body.

 

My son (7) loved playing on the computers in Adventure Ocean. They were only available for use during free time. The kids are expected to participate in group activities while they are happening. Activities included making kites, coloring bandanas and pillow cases, and playing games. The younger group did that plus more face painting and guessing games. Formal night was also PJ night. That night my kids ate dinner with adventure ocean. I'm glad I didn't bring formal clothes for them. They loved walking through the ship in their PJs.

 

Let me know if there are more questions.

[Alikona]

MLB,

 

Thanks! You were very helpful.

 

Allison

[dms_cruisers04]

but my stupid service was acting up. :rolleyes:

 

Anywho, MLB, do you know what time the babysitting fees for after hours starts? And what do the kids have the options of being able to do if they are there later?

Our last cruise was on DCL and my daughter, who will be 5 three days before the cruise, was not at all happy with the DCL kids program. Especially the after hours, which consisted of them turning on a movie and expecting the kids to fall asleep (for her age group anyway). Hoping this won't be the case this time.

[MLB]

The late night was 10pm-1am. I don't know what they did, but there are activities other than movies. One night there was a movie night. I think it corresponded with PJ night.

[dms_cruisers04]

Thanks again. As much we're looking forward to some 'parent-time', it's her vacation too and we want her to have a good time also.

[Kteacher]

A couple more questions... Do you remember when muster was on embarkation day, and do the change the dining hours for the first night, or are they still 6 and 8:30? Also, do you remember when they shut the Windjammer down on embarkation day? My flight times just got changed, and it now looks like I probably won't be getting to the pier until around 2 at the earliest. Thanks :)

[MLB]

The life boat drill was at 4:30. It didn't take too long. Dinner was still at 6:00pm that night. We had plenty of time to return to our cabins, change clothes, and listen to dueling pianos before dinner.

 

On embarkation day, the Windjammer was opened until 3:45. Sorrento's pizza was opened until 4. Everything on board closes down for the life boat drill.