Just back from Sovereign on 8/22...

[Xaphrie]

Here's my LOOONNNGGGG review of my trip on the Sovereign. Have a cup of coffee handy. :p

 

We flew in on Sunday and were concerned about tropical storm Fay as it was out at sea when we arrived. We got into FL around 10pm, but by the time we got the luggage, rent-a-car and found our way after getting lost a couple of times, we made it to the hotel in Cape Canaveral around 1am and crashed around 2. We all were up around 9 and puttered around the hotel until time for checkout at 11. We then drove around Cocoa Beach to kill time b/c we heard that we couldn't board the ship until 2pm. We hit some shops and grabbed lunch on the deck of some waterfront place and watched tons of catfish swimming in the water below. It was so fricking hot that I had sweat pouring off my face. I was glad when we left.

 

So finally we head to the port, drop the car off and take the shuttle over to Port Canaveral. OMG what a large ship. And I had to keep reminding mysef that she's the smallest in the fleet now! She was large to us since we'd never been cruising before. So we get dropped off, leave our luggage with the porters and take our set sail pass and passports over to the entrance so we can go through the process of getting on the ship. It was pretty quick and easy. No pictures allowed in there so my first few shots were of my mom and my sister walking down the gangplank onto the ship. We entered at Deck 4 which was like a huge atrium. It was all open in the middle above and below us so you could see the decks above, and two pairs of winding staircases on either side of two glass elevators. It was unbelievable. I just kept staring up. lol They were "giving away" these frozen foo-foo drinks which were lined up on a table in souvenir glasses that lit up in the bottom. I told my mom don't dare take one b/c I had learned from CruiseCritic. com that they will automatically charge you for the glass if you take it. ;)

 

We decided to go exploring so I got pictures of all kinds of places - the Boleros Lounge, the Voltage Lounge, the Schooner Bar, the Mirage dining room, (we ate in the Illusions dining room which I never got pictures but it pretty much looked the same - just different chairs), the pool, the pool deck, a pelican...lol We finally went to check out our room and OMG was it SMALL! The bathroom was the tiniest I'd ever seen, I swear. At least since the shower is so small, there's no way to fall down but it was challenging when I needed to shave my legs. I'm surprised I didn't end up in traction. Yikes! lol The beds were a little too firm for me but otherwise okay despite how narrow they were. I usually sleep in one spot anyway, so I wasn't worried about falling out of bed. lol

 

We then went up to Deck 11 which is the pool deck and found the others that my sister's friend had booked the cruise with (she had invited my sister to be her roomate, then I heard about it and invited myself, then my mother when I found out I also needed a roomate or pay double the price - that's how I ended up on a cruise to begin with). They were sitting at a table on the smoking side of the ship and there was a woman there that they'd just met. She was by herself so we kind of adopted her for the evening. There was quite the party going on, a band playing reggae music and drinks were flowing. It was awesome. We stayed up until 3am.

 

Tuesday was supposed to be our day in Nassau but b/c of storm Fay, Tuesday became our sea day. We went to Deck 11 (pool deck) for coffee that morning and so my mom could smoke while having her coffee. We ran into the woman we met the night before and she ended up hanging around with us for the day. We all kind of hung around on Deck 11, wandered the ship, checked out the shops...grabbed a drink or two throughout the afternoon. It was windy and rainy all day long and that night. One of the windows on Deck 11 blew off track in the afternoon, that's how windy it was. I have pictures of them trying to fix it. They ended up taking it out altogether b/c they couldn't reattach it. The seas were rough and we could definitely feel the motion on the ocean. I'd be walking along and occasionally lose my balance. They reported 10 ft. waves at one point. No dramamine for me the whole trip and I didn't get sick so I guess I'm a true cruiser at heart! :) We also spent quite a bit of time in the afternoon up in the Crown Viking Lounge which is on Deck 14. It's got a 360 panoramic view - I loved being up there. Sometimes we'd just go up and hang out for the view and not even drink. Honestly the only time I got drunk on this trip was the first night and even then I didn't overdo it. There's a lot to be said for remembering your first cruise! lol That night was formal night. The woman we'd met the night before ended up spending the day with us and asked me to give her a hand getting ready for dinner and so I missed out on hitting Jonny Rockets which my mom and sister did while I was away. I was kind of bummed about that. She had first seating and we had 2nd so after I left her cabin I wandered around on my own and spent some time just chilling out on the promenade deck then went to get ready. It was so nice seeing everyone dressed up for formal night. They did pictures down on Deck 4 so my sister, my mom and I did one with the sunset backdrop and then I did one by myself with a pastel backdrop. We bought one formal picture that we all liked and I bought one of myself that I liked the most to bring home for my dh. He liked it. The pictures were done before dinner at 7:30 so we hurried through that so we could catch the Captain's reception in the Follies Theater. He introduced all the key members of the crew and talked a bit about the ship, the history and what it takes to run a cruise. It was interesting. We then had to leave for dinner. After dinner I was going to change and go back out and decided to put my pj's on and stay in. I was beat and I knew we had a full day on Wednesday since we'd be in Nassau.

 

Luckily when we woke up on Wednesday in Nassau, the sun was out. We were not movers and shakers that morning so we didn't actually leave the ship to check out Nassau until about 11:30am. We walked around for an hour or so then I had to go back to the ship and grab my ticket for the dolphin excursion I went on. That was cool. I was in the water with them and got to pet them, hug them, and got a pic of the dolphin giving me a kiss. I actually wanted to get the package of 3 pictures and 2 magnets so I could also have the pic of me hugging the dolphin but unfortunately, they wouldn't take my $100 bill. I was so mad. I said to the cashier that they should make it widely known they don't take $100's so people like me who don't want to carry a wad of bills will know to take 2 $50's next time. At least I had a $20 to get the one picture. Sucks to be them, they lost $$ that day. We had to take a boat to a separate island for the excursion so it was another extra boat trip for me which was an added bonus. I got back around 4:30, hooked up with my mom and sister around 5:30 and we hung around in our room for a while, took showers before dinner. After dinner we caught the "Love and Marriage" show. It's kind of like the Newlywed Game. OMG it was so funny. Casey our Cruise Director cracked me up. He was the host of the show. After that, my mom and I hung out in the Voltage Lounge where my sister and her friend caught up with us. We didn't stay there long - we'd just missed Karaoke and they put some "sleepy" music on so we had to get out of there. We then went to hang out on Deck 11 which wasn't crowded since the bars were closed. My sister's friend went up to the Crown Viking Lounge to grab a bucket of beer. We ended up following her up there and closing the place. I didn't get a drink, just hung out with everyone. After that, we went to the promenade deck and talked until after 3.

 

Thursday we went to Coco Cay which was okay. The ship can't dock there so we had to tender to the island on 2 decked boats with benches on them. That was fun. I thought Coco Cay would be more tropical-looking than it was and like I'd also said, it was SO freaking HOT! Near the water wasn't bad b/c there was a good breeze but as soon as you were "inland" it was unbearable. They did this awesome buffet for us for lunch but it was so hot I barely ate anything. We found some lounge chairs and settled down for the day. I went in the water, laid out for a while, took a walk with my mom to get something to drink. I got a huge bottle of water and drank the whole thing in one sitting. By the time we went back to our lounge chairs, my sister and her friend were ready to go back to the ship so we waited for the next boat and headed back. Since we were already yucky and salty, we went up to the pool deck, stood under the showers to rinse off really good and sat in the hot tub for awhile, then the pool. It was so refreshing. They use saltwater in the pools and it was so salty it was like the Dead Sea. You didn't have to tread water to stay afloat...you just kind of bobbed on the surface. We hung around there for a while, went back to shower and change for dinner and after dinner, there was a sail away party for when we left Coco Cay and they had a nice buffet on the pool deck, complete with ice sculptures, artistically carved watermelons, and animals made out of fruit. I got pictures of it all. My mom and I took off and hung out in the Voltage Lounge and each had a drink. We caught the 2nd half of Karaoke. There were some really good singers up there. One guy cracked us up b/c the DJ made him sing "Hero" and he hammed it up, big time. lol I was a little irritated this night b/c here it was 10:30pm and I saw kids there for the first time. Two of them ran up and down the aisle where we were sitting. One bright parent sat in front of us in the smoking section, fanning smoke from her face while her small daughter sat on her lap. ;) (Other than the two running up and down the aisle, the kids on the ship were well behaved - at least I had no issues with anyone.) Kids don't belong in a smoky lounge late at night, taking up seats that should be for adults, IMHO. Some people were standing as it was b/c it was so crowded. Luckily at 11pm, they announced that the game Quest was about to start and reminded everyone it's an adults only show so all the parents and their kids left. We left too b/c we still had to pack and get our luggage outside our door by midnight - otherwise I would have stayed b/c I really wanted to see it. Since we had to be up early for debarkation the next day, we turned in at 12am and fell asleep sometime after 1. Getting back into the country was pretty painless too. Then we had to rent a car, get to the airport, drop off the car...etc, etc. I made it home around 8:30 Friday night and boy, was I glad to be home. As much as I love vacation, coming home is always nice - it's the going back to work that sucks! :(

 

The food on the ship was pretty good. I got prime rib on Monday night, London broil steak on Tuesday, grilled chicken with herbs on Wednesday and a sliced turkey dinner on Thursday. I made sure I got the molten chocolate cake after hearing about it on CruiseCritic! I also ordered a glass of milk afterward b/c it was rich. lol Jeannebive was our waiter and she was awesome. She was so sweet and she remembered everything you asked for - you never had to ask twice. Romeo was our head waiter and he was a riot. Jeannebive's asst. waiter wasn't all that personable. I don't even remember his name. I also loved our stateroom attendent - Ashton. He was so sweet and so very funny. The first time after we met him, we got off the elevator to go back to our room and we hear behind us, "Wrong way." We kept going and we hear it again so we turn around and he was pointing down another hallway of cabins. We'd gotten off the opposite elevators and had gotten confused.. I was impressed that he knew who we were and what cabin we were in so quickly!

 

We didn't see anyone underdressed on formal night although on the other nights, I did see people wearing t-shirts and jeans. I didn't care though. I didn't encounter anyone being obnoxious in the smoking areas either or see people smoking where they shouldn't - which I know can be hot topics on this board. Everyone "just got along". I think people were just happy to be on vacation and having a good time. I definitely look forward to when I can cruise again! Hopefully sometime next year if I get my way. :D

[3happyferrets]

Thanks for the review, we are sailing on her next week. Just a question, did they do the midnight chocolate buffet?

Julie

[CivilTwilight]

Thanks for the review! I am going to be taking my first cruise on SOS in October. And I guess it'll be my first and last since SOS is moving elsewhere.

 

What category of cabin did you stay in and what numberw was it? I am having a hard time deciding which deck to stay on. I know that the rooms are tiny anywhere on the ship unless you get a suite. But a suite for a 4 night cruise seems like a waste of money for me.

 

I have been reading a lot about the food on the ship, I'm glad to hear you thought it was good. I have been on Carnival once before (last year) and the food was extraordinary.

 

Thanks again!

[birdie16]

Very nice review! I enjoyed reading a review from a first timer. I love the Sovereign of the Seas, wait until you cruise on a bigger ship if you were impressed with the size of this one.

[Lynne95]

We too are sailing on her next week, so your review is greatly appreciated!

 

The Sovereign was our first cruise too, now we wanted to visit her one more time before she goes.

 

Did you notice if there were any cooking classes offered while on the ship, I have always enjoyed those.

 

Thanks again for the update, and glad you enjoyed yourself!

[kittymom65]

Very nice first review! I agree, the Viking Crown is the best place on that ship! I could sit there for hours and just watch the water.

[Xaphrie]

Thanks for your comments on my review. Prior to sailing I would haunt this board looking for reviews on SOS so I'm glad to put my $.02 in about my trip. I loved it. I even spent 6 minutes at $.55/min to email my dh to tell him he has got to experience a cruise. lol I missed him on that trip. I've been on vacations without him before but never in a situation where I didn't talk to him daily. That's what was the hardest for me. Oh, I could have talked to him for a bargain price of $9/minute. Or was it $8-something? Whatever...I thought it was too much.

 

Unfortunately we didn't have the midnight chocolate buffet - at least I didn't hear about it or see it in my compass.

 

We stayed in cabin 8538 which is an unobstructed ocean view. It was small but my mom and I managed just fine. I did see our new friend's cabin - she had a junior suite with a balcony and let me tell you, that's the way I'm going next time I cruise! Unless they have regular rooms with balconies on other ships - I don't necessarily want a junior suite - just a balcony.

 

Yes, I thought the food was good. I didn't think it was bland but then again, when it comes to seasoning, I'm a "less is more" kinda gal. lol The portions were good too - they didn't give you a ton of food you couldn't finish plus we were able to enjoy an appetizer, the meal and dessert and walk away from the table without feeling ridiculously stuffed. I never have dessert in restaurants here at home b/c I'm usually too full after dinner. They had some good dessert choices. I had a souffle (sp) which I'd never tried before. It was good to try it but I didn't care for the texture. I don't remember which nights I had them but I also had the chocolate molten cake, brownie madness and for the life of me can't remember the 4th dessert I had right now. :eek:

 

They didn't offer any cooking classes (that I know of) but they did do a crayola crayon something or other for adults as well as an ice sculpting and towel folding class. I'll have to ask my mom if she kept any of the compasses and post them on here. I wish you all happy sailing on the SOS - especially you fellow first timers - I think you will love her as much as I did! :)

[birdie16]

Just so you know, anything above the Sovereign class the JS you saw would be a normal balcony cabin. Take a look at the virtual tours on the RCCL website for different ships...it is kind of fun.

 

Whenever I take a trip without my DH I spend the entire time wishing he was there to see everything with me. I hope you can cruise with your DH soon.

[Xaphrie]

Thanks birdie16 for the info regarding the rooms with balconies! I wanted him to see everything I saw too and that's usually the case when I take trips without him. I guess that's why I came home with 381 pictures. :p

[Delta Dear]

Thank you for the very positive review. We are going on the SOS in Oct. for our first time every cruise. When I look at the pictures, it looks SO small, I was worried. The only ships I've seen are the big Carnavale ships that were leaving Miami once when I was there. I'm exciting, but I was getting nervous after reading so many negative comments.

[birdie16]

Thanks birdie16 for the info regarding the rooms with balconies! I wanted him to see everything I saw too and that's usually the case when I take trips without him. I guess that's why I came home with 381 pictures. :p

 

With that many pictures you can be busy for ages making a video! Try starting with the song, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun".

[MyNameIsGermy]

Sounds like you had a blast!!! Have you made your reservations for your next trip yet? haha!

 

Welcome back!

 

-jtslater

[Xaphrie]

Thanks! lol I like the idea of using that song for my video AND the idea of planning for the next cruise. I hate to say it but right now the first one is more of a possibility then the second idea...lol

 

Also just wanted to let you all know I posted 8 pages worth of cruise pics on my MySpace page. It was easier than loading them into Photobucket. I have the same screen name there - Xaphrie - if you want to check them out.

[flcouple]

Thanks for the review, we are sailing on her next week. Just a question, did they do the midnight chocolate buffet?

Julie

 

They stopped doing the chocolate buffet on SoS late last year (most of the RCI ships don't have it anymore). They do have a nice midnight gala buffet starting right before midnight in Nassau (farewell to Nassua party) by the pool.

[Love2cruise58]

I really enjoyed your review. I sailed on the SOS in the mid and late 90's when she was doing the Eastern Carib. 7 day. We took our DD for her HS graduation and then her and her husband when they graduated from College. I laughed when she saw the cabin for the first time..(I had tried to warn her that the brochure should have said 'actual size') Her first question was "where is the rest of it?" We always spend so little time in our cabin that the size has never bothered me. I have reserved my 'first' balcony for my next cruise in November so I may be ruined for life. I always just want to be on the ship not care where. I especially enjoyed hearing about you meeting someone that was alone and hanging out with them. That is one of my favorite things about cruising. I love meeting new friends. Most people are really friendly that you meet on a cruise.

Again, thanks for the review...

[3happyferrets]

They stopped doing the chocolate buffet on SoS late last year (most of the RCI ships don't have it anymore). They do have a nice midnight gala buffet starting right before midnight in Nassau (farewell to Nassua party) by the pool.

 

That's a shame! Oh well, thanks for the info.