Ilikebigboats

Holly cow so sorry this happened to you! Just goes to show you vacations can change in an instant. Glad you are feeling better and that you had insurance!

For a bigger city, Bergen is still charming, even their McDonald’s is cute.😁

We are doing the 14 night Norway cruise next June and I am really enjoying following along with you on your trip! Looking forward to seeing pictures of your aft balcony since that’s what we booked. I’m so glad the food on board so far has been great, love your food pictures! I hope the weather stays nice, have fun!

The status match was so nice! I agree that that the age demographic was pretty spread out, even thinking that the “middle age” group was the majority. I’m hoping on my next Royal cruise to get a feeling that they are actually happy that I am there, that was missing last cruise. I know Royal is selling out most of their cruises but they better be careful or they will end up like Disney and start losing their most loyal customers.

Virgin was a little cheaper. I didn’t have to pay tips, wifi or specialty dining on Virgin because it’s included, so I figured I spent about $200 more on Royal per balcony cabin.

I have really appreciated all the info on these boards so I thought I would give back and share my thoughts on our Mediterranean cruises. Hubby and I traveled with our 4, mid twenties children, and spent 7 nights on Symphony then boarded Virgin’s Valiant lady for 7 additional nights. We love cruising the Mediterranean but it can be exhausting with such port intensive itineraries. First, I am a loyal Royal, diamond/prime and purchased the Key for everyone in our group. We loved Hairspray, looked forward to drinks at the Central Park Trellis Bar, enjoyed our free diamond and casino drinks, and was surprised by how much we liked just the once a day cabin cleaning. Key- paid $10 more than internet pkg. price, not worth it. Half of my group are vegetarian and Key lunch waiter literally said we can not accommodate vegetarians, “you can order the Caesar salad”(not vegetarian). This was the start of a bunch of little annoying things that continued to add up throughout the week. The food rumors are true, dining was mostly unremarkable to down right bad all week. If you are a steak and potato kinda person then you might be okay with the bland menu, but I guess we were looking for a more healthy, creative dining experience. Besides food, here is a list of things that need to change pronto! Beds- come on Royal your beds are the worst in the industry! I always have to ask for a mattress pad for my aching back. Casino- Make it smoke free! Are Royal casinos the only ones that allow smoking?! Towels/pool- stop requiring people to check/return towels, it’s a pain in the backside. Price- We paid a lot for this cruise and felt like we did not get our money’s worth. Royal tries to be everyone’s cruise- bring the kids, grandpa, honeymooners etc. maybe this dilutes the experience by trying to make everyone happy? Virgin cruises, much better fit for my adult group. If you are a “foodie”, like a ship with no kids, socially laidback, and enjoy a smoke free casino then Virgin is the way to go. Prices were similar but it’s like comparing apples to oranges, that’s how much better Virgin’s experience was compared to Royal. To be fair, Virgin only had 900 passengers vs Royals sold out ship so I’m sure our spectacular service would have been quite different with a full ship. We have always enjoyed our Royal cruises but this last one was just too underwhelming for us. Sorry for the negative post but I needed to vent, Royal’s survey link has already expired🤪. We will enjoy our Prime/casino cruise next February on Jewel of the Seas, but will move on and try other cruise lines in the future. If you have any questions, fire away!

Thanks for the review! Heading out of Barcelona next month on Valiant Lady, and I appreciate your tip about buying bar tabs, we will probably be to tired to party after the intensive port days 🥱

Looking forward to your review. We are doing the same cruise on July 23.

Thank you for your great review! I just booked Jewel of the Seas out of San Juan next February, was this the ship you sailed? You win the award for the best snorkeler for sure!😀