edk136

On the way back from Cozumel, the Oasis and Empress were basically leapfrogging each other as I kept a lookout for the Oasis. At 2:30am on the last night, we were side by side with the Oasis, just going around in circles, waiting to go into port.

Wife and I were partying in the Viking Lounge when I looked out the window and saw the Oasis so close to us, you would have thought we were in port (well maybe not that close). I asked a crew member why they were so close and what we're doing and at that time, I was informed both ships are just doing circles out in the middle of nowhere waiting to go into port.

Eric

We were on the same cruise and you did an excellent job documenting it. It brings back memories.

My wife and I work out a lot and the gym was indeed lacking and with us being Diamond members, we wouldn't have any problems with the lacking gym become a Diamond Lounge, heck, the bar is already up there. The gym is, like I said, lacking. I wished they would have crammed a multi-purpose cable machine in there somewhere and my wife likes to run but she did not like how the treadmills were set-up. Overall, it got us by for a week but we would rather have the Diamond Lounge.

Eric

Excellent. We have returned to RCCL after some forays into other lines (and several other types of vacations).

 

I also noticed that there is a bath in the junior suites, so it's got a larger shower?

We had an aft Junior Suite and our shower was the same size as our son's who had an interior room, in fact, the layout of the bathroom was the same between the two rooms.

Eric

I hope this is how our cruise goes.....we are booked 7/23. I wonder has ANYBODY had fun on this ship as of late? Any updates on these reviews.

Oh, I had fun but I was drinking a lot plus we got to spend two days in Cozumel.

Eric

When I was on the ship. The talk from the crew was about this ship going to Cuba and it may happen sooner than initially thought. No one gave a specific date but it was not a secret.

The only way I would get on this ship again, is if I combine it with another cruise. I would not fly to Florida from Ohio just to get on this ship. I guess I can say I've sailed this ship but that's it. It's a shame because I actually received excellent service from several members of the staff and I would like to visit them again.

Eric

I will say going into this cruise, I did not have high expectations (with this being an old, small ship and only being it's third cruise) but even with the issues we experienced, I did not put a damper on the cruise and it was actually, shall I say "fun" being on th small ship. I have experienced all different sizes of ships (except for the Quantum Class), with the Freedom Class being my favorite and this ship was kind of "fun" for being different and having that 'old school' feel.

Let me know if I can answer anything else, I'll check back every now and then.

Eric

- The Viking Crown Lounge was crowded every night except for the 'white party' but the crowd did not get there until late. I'm guessing the party really didn't start until 11:30 PM or little later and there were nights we were there until 2:30 am. The lounge is kinda spread out so depending on how the pic was taken, it could look like it was empty.

- We went to Boleros for the tier event and 'win in a minute' event (which was not very good, btw) and it didn't seem too hot in there.

- The only place that I noticed the lack of air conditioning was in the casino.

- I didn't take any pics of the menu. The dessert menu was definitely lacking but other than that, we didn't notice many changes but then again, I usually have an idea what I'm going to order each day prior to going on the cruise, lol.

- The ship did not seem to be crowded. The Schooner Bar would occasionally have lines of people trying to get drinks and sometimes there would be lines at the Windjammer but again, it wasn't too bad.

- I really do not know where everyone went at night. The casino was never busy, we didn't go to Boleros and the Schooner Bar was not busy. I guess people either went to bed or they were at the Viking Crown Lounge.

I was on this cruise, so I'll add my opinions:

- We had an aft Jr suite. It was small but we knew that prior to the cruise. The bathroom was the same size as another other stateroom.

- No refrigerator (chill box) was a bummer, so we had to drink room temperature water.

- We drink a lot of water during the day but once we drank our two expensive bottles of water that was initially in our stateroom and then the two additional bottles of water we receive as Diamond members, the waters were never replaced. In fact, on the evening of the last night, I finally saw an employee stopping at every room checking on how many bottles of water each room had.

- At some point prior to our cruise, they replaced the window in the balcony. There was writing in 'grease pencil' instructing where the window was to be installed but after installing the window, they never removed the writing. Shoddy work I believe.

- During the cruise, they replaced a balcony window on a room that was diagonally above us. While replacing the window, the lower metal/rust retaining piece fell down onto the balcony below. Lucky, no one was out on the balcony at the time or someone could have been seriously injured. I guess at some point while replacing the window, the old window broke as we found pieces of broken glass all over our balcony.

- People still had flooded rooms. We met a couple who had a Jr suite on deck 9. On the second to the last night of the cruise, their room flooded and they had to switch rooms at 4:30 AM.

- Casino was hot but has previously stated, they had those portable fans. I call them fans because all they did was move around the warm air.

- Wait staff / bar tenders were limited but they did the best they could do under the circumstances. We didn't have any problems getting a drink but a lot of times, we just parked ourselves at the Schooner Bar.

- The Viking Crown lounge was busy every night, except for, the night of the pool side 'white party'.

- I cannot understand why the Viking Crown Lounge refuses to have the same alcohol choices as the other bars. I asked for a Fireball and Diet Coke on the first 3 nights and was told they did not have Fireball in the lounge but I was able to get it at every other bar. How hard is it to bring a bottle of Fireball to the lounge. On the 3rd night, a bar tender stated he would go to the casino to get my drink. I told him to forget, he shouldn't have to do that.

- For how old the ship is, the shop is in good shape but I feel the hull is held together by paint, which covered a lot of age.

- The layout of the ship was ok, it was small so it was very easy to get anywhere fast. There is some odd sitting areas, like on Deck 5, next to the photo gallery/casino.

- Windjammer was fine, easy to get food even though it was tight to walk around. Never had a problem getting a seat. Ice machine and ice cream machines were working.

- The gym is a joke and obviously an afterthought. I realize a lot of people will not be working out on this ship as this will become a party ship to Cuba but having the gym being open on the second story of the Viking Crown Lounge is weird. They should have made this area the Diamond Lounge and do away with the gym as you can obviously tell this area was a lounge at one time.

- Dining room: I had sent two emails to RCL dining requesting a table for 4. I never received a response but with being a diamond member, we usually did not have a problem having our request filled. Welp, we were seated at a table for 6 in a corner of the dining room, right next to where the waiters bring the food in/out. Nothing like being crunched into the corner of the room where either I could sit and look at a wall that was directly in front of me or wedge myself between the wall and table. We went to the dining room the first two nights and then the Windjammer the rest of the week.

- We didn't have any problems find a lounge chair on the pool deck and we didn't go out until 11:30 AM.

- The shows were good, Jesse Hamilton was awesome plus he so personable. I liked the seating arrangement in the theater, it was like the Viking Crown Lounge where each group of seats had their own table.

- Another thing that bothered me, which is a personal choice that I like, there is not a television channel that shows the ships positioning, etc. There is a not a channel that replays the events that occurred throughout the cruise.

- There is not a house band on the ship, which we like to go watch the band at night. I felt bad for the Schooner Bar pianist as on any night, there may have been 10, maybe 15 at the most, people in the Schooner Bar. Basically the Schooner Bar is positioned as a place someone could stop and get a drink as people passed through from the theater to the casino/dining room.

- My room stewardess did an awesome job up until the last night when she did not turn down our bed. Our son had the same stewardess in a separate interior room and she did not turn down his bed either. Wasn't a big deal, just strange.

- You can feel the employees were stressed and it was discussed the fact they were not ready to sail this ship.

I'm sure there is more but I typed long enough. If you have questions, I'll try to answer them.

Eric

Ok, I know this is a cruise specific post but this will show how many cruisers on the 03-29-2014 sailing of the Serenade of the Seas are cruise critic members. So, here goes... Tell us a story about Cindy and if you were on this cruise, it is hard not to know who Cindy is.

Eric

Unless it says 'Tag Heuer' and gives me the time, I'll pass

It would be nice if the cruise ship carried different pop products other than Coke products, then I wouldn't have to bring pop on board and would be more willing to purchase the soda package.