Sovereign

We just got off the Sovereign from the August 1st sailing. This was our eighth cruise, all with RCL, and fourth on the Sovereign.

 

Let me start by saying, Sovereign was our first cruise and has been my favorite and my wife's second favorite ship.

 

The refurb is GREAT!! It all looks as if the ship came this way and not refurbed. It fits very well.

 

As far as our cruise was concerned, we were really looking forward to seeing the ship after the refurb and going to CocoCay for a mini vacation prior to our busy season at work. We really had a great time and enjoyed ourselves and our personal company and our tablemates. We made the cruise what it was, not the line or the staff, we did it ourselves. However, if this had been our first cruise, we either would have not ever went on another cruise or would have changed lines. There are issues we are going to have to deal with Miami direct. We will not bash RCL or the Sovereign until these issues get addressed.

 

I am not posting this and going to let you just hang out there waiting for more. Once our situation is resolved, I will post the problems. The one thing I will state is that we were on deck #5 and did NOT smell any sewer odors.

 

I am truly sorry for not giving you any more information, I just feel that bashing them without allowing them to rectify the problem is not being fair to a company that has been great for seven cruises. I just want you to know there are issues on the Sovereign that need to be addressed.

 

Tim

Hope your issues are resolved. Sovereign was our first cruise and has a special place in our hearts.

Thanks Gingee.

 

We too hope RCL will take care of the issues with us and correct the problems they have with the Sovereign. Unfortuantely, the damage has been done and the reputation the Sovereign had with us has been tarnished and we will probably never go back on her again.

 

Tim & Crystal

HB,

 

We are going on Sovereign in 6 days. Now I am a little concerned. Would you possibly email and give me a "heads up"? This is our first cruise on Sovereign, our third on RCI.

 

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

vsnyder1@nycap.rr.com

I think this is a very reasonable way to post that you had issues. You did not make over the top statements and you indicated you were working to resolve them. Anyone who thinks that every cruiser should be happy on every cruise is probably fooling only themselves. All lines have some issues. That will not make or break most peoples cruises. There is nothing wrong with posting some bad and some good. Anyone who says everything was 100% perfect is probably wearing blinders as is someone who says everything was terrible.

 

I look forward to hearing what comes of this and what the issues were.

Vern, don't be concerned.....I've been on the Sovereign a number of times and each time was wonderful!! Of course, things do happen, but if you take the percentage of things that go wrong and weigh them against the things that do overall (think of the number of passengers that are happy!), you should have a wonderful time.....

 

I can honestly say I've never had a bad cruise - sure, things have happened - we got rained out 6 out of 7 days, I lost in the casino, one nite I didn't care for the dinner I ordered (so I just got something else) but each and every cruise we've been on has been a delight....we're away from home, away from the pressures of every day life, someone else is taking care of just about my every whim and the only responsibility I have is ....hmmm....well, there really are no responsibilities . . . .

 

Relax and enjoy yourself!

 

Michele

Tim & Crystal:

 

We are sailing on Aug 19th and would appreciate any other information you could tell us off the boards. (MariTenor1@aol.com)

 

Thanks

vern & mari

 

I will email you personally (not on this public board) to let you know of the issues we had.

 

Nlideal, thanks for the kind words about the post. My purpose is not to bash either the Sovereign or RCL. There have been several very nice posts I have read that I learned from and I want to return the same to others. I just want to wait until the issues get resolved before posting them.

 

Michuck, we have too been on the Sovereign several times, four in fact, and had WONDERFUL experiences on the first three. It was just some things that happened, or did not happen, that potentially could ruin a cruise if the cruiser was a first time cruiser or they allowed it to happen. Fortuanately, we did not allow that to happen.

 

Tim

We have been on the Sovereign many,many times.............and I have to agree,we are in no hurry to get back.................In fact,if we take another short Bahamas cruise,we may just drive down to Miami(the Majesty) and go from there.............not impressed with the Sovereign as in the past......

Parrothead8

 

Please email me. I have a few questions I would like to ask you as I have previously read that you have sailed Sovereign numerous times.

 

Tim

herrinbowl@midamer.net

We just got off the Sovereign from the August 1st sailing. This was our eighth cruise, all with RCL, and fourth on the Sovereign.

 

Let me start by saying, Sovereign was our first cruise and has been my favorite and my wife's second favorite ship.

 

The refurb is GREAT!! It all looks as if the ship came this way and not refurbed. It fits very well.

 

As far as our cruise was concerned, we were really looking forward to seeing the ship after the refurb and going to CocoCay for a mini vacation prior to our busy season at work. We really had a great time and enjoyed ourselves and our personal company and our tablemates. We made the cruise what it was, not the line or the staff, we did it ourselves. However, if this had been our first cruise, we either would have not ever went on another cruise or would have changed lines. There are issues we are going to have to deal with Miami direct. We will not bash RCL or the Sovereign until these issues get addressed.

 

I am not posting this and going to let you just hang out there waiting for more. Once our situation is resolved, I will post the problems. The one thing I will state is that we were on deck #5 and did NOT smell any sewer odors.

 

I am truly sorry for not giving you any more information, I just feel that bashing them without allowing them to rectify the problem is not being fair to a company that has been great for seven cruises. I just want you to know there are issues on the Sovereign that need to be addressed.

 

Tim

 

I hope your issue is resolved. I will be interested in knowing your problems. Sovereign was my first cruisel, and I'm thinking of trying her again next year. Any and all info would be helpful.

Planning first cruise with ds (12) in March over spring break. Looking at Sovereign. Interested in hearing about your situation.

hey Tim....i have got 3 Sovereign Cruises booked for the next 4 months. i have been on this ship many times...the best during Hurricane Charlie..and love it. Please share your concerns with me :

katiensb@yahoo.com

 

I have 3 rooms booked for the Dec.22 cruise...I could go on another ship for less $..but are traveling with 4 WELL BEHAVED teens.

 

Please respond,

Katie

I am planning on crusing on the Sovereign also and would like to hear about what happened. If you could please e-mail me at marymjahnke@yahoo.com about your experience, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

gonna be sailing 9/12, Deck 3....worried about sewer smell! just read 2 reviews about SOS from last wk.....sounded ok, but did say Still Sewer Smell! :eek:

EmJakes Bubbie

 

As I stated earlier in this thread, we were on deck 5 and smelled NO SEWER ODOR.

 

Tim

Tim,

 

I also have booked a cruise on the Sovereign and would like to know of your concerns before it is too late to make any changes.

Please e-mail me at rbjacoby@aol.com.

 

Thank you!

 

Randall

...we were on deck 5 and smelled NO SEWER ODOR.

...

understood about you didn't smell sewer, etc....wondered if other readers had any experience???? we are in the "front" of deck 3/inside....I'm hoping "far enough away" from "back end" vent system:confused: ... more say they've smelled it tho some say they haven't....doesn't seem to be any common denomiator .... inside as well as balconies have gotten "wiffs" - it would double our cruise price to go with a balcony which would not guarantee freedom from stinky smell... SOS/Majesty/Monarch are old sisters - this sewer smell seems to be something that tends to be prevelant with older vessels. oi vey....Am planning to bring along air fresheners!:eek:

Sorry emjake

 

Thought maybe you missed it on my earlier post.

 

I have emailed everyone that asked except for randall. I will do that as soon as I get off this site randall.

 

Tim

Tim: I didn't notice your e-mail come through (I even checked my spam). Could you send it again? (MariTenor1@aol.com)

 

Thank you.

I just got back from the Sovereign (8/05 sailing). My cabin was on deck 6, we did notice a slight sewer smell in our bathroom prior to departure (Our room did not smell at all). However, it did disappear once we left port. I did not notice any sewer smells in other sections of the ship.

 

This was my first cruise and I thoroughly enjoyed it as did the rest of my family. The ship was great as well as the service. No issues arose on our trip.

Marilyn

 

Check your email again. I sent the first one to the wrong email address.

 

Tim

Tim and Crystal,

 

I have sent you an email requesting additional information. Thanks for taking the time to help us near future Sovereign cruisers. We have sailed her before, but not since her "new do". We have two first time cruiser couples coming with us.

 

Thanks again.

All I can add is that HBCruiser's concerns IMHO are legit (from his email) and I, too, would be a bit upset if these happened on one of our cruises. I have not experienced anything like it, fortunately, but I think Miami needs to seriously take a look at his complaints.

Curiosity is killing this cat.;) Would you mind e-mailing me too. danawhill@yahoo.com Thanks.

 

We sailed the Sovereign in April and this was our first RCI cruise. Not everything was perfect, but we had a great time. I'm thinking of planning a short weekend cruise on her in Nov. with some girlfriends who would be first time cruisers. Since this could become a yearly getaway, I would like for them to have a great experience so they will want to cruise again. We would also consider the Majesty out of Miami.

 

For those concerned about the sewer smell, it was really not a problem. We noticed a faint sewer smell in the bathroom too prior to departure while in port and one other occasion. It was not in the room. If I had not read about the smell on these boards, I'm not sure that I would have noticed it or thought anything of it.