Long Sovereign 1/17/05 Review

[Chriz]

Sovereign of the Seas January 17th, 2005

 

 

 

Sunday, January 16th, 2005

 

 

We bid on a room in Cocoa Beach and won the Holiday Inn Resort for Sunday night. On the way down we stopped in Daytona in hopes of driving on the beach for a while, but the seas were at some of the highest points I have ever witnessed. The temps hovered around 50 degrees with little hope of improvement. After a quick, traditional stop at the race track to look around, we were off to see the ships! On the Beeline expressway, we passed 4 or 5 cops so be careful not to speed on this road!! The Mariner of the Seas, Fantasy, and one of those Disney ships were in port. It was a pretty site for any cruise junkie. While traveling down A1A, we could see the damage from the hurricanes a few months earlier. I don’t think there was a hotel sign left standing! We found the Holiday Inn and within a few minutes were checked in and on our way to the rooms. They were still cleaning up and had just re-opened a couple of weeks earlier. We have stayed @ the Radisson before and I felt this was definitely comparable and will likely stay here in the future. The staff went out of their way to help us. We had to change rooms because of a drunk couple fighting next door and the police had to be called but I digress…. Now for the good stuff:

 

 

Monday, January 17th, 2005

 

 

We were up and on our way to the port about 10:45am. We arrived and dropped our luggage with the porters and then parked. Due to a mix up with our TA, we had an interesting time trying to check in but finally received our Sea Pass cards and in line to board. We stood in line for at least 45 minutes but then were told that the boarding machines where you swipe your card were down and they gave up on trying to fix them and started let us get on board. As soon as we stepped off of the gangway into the atrium, you could smell a bad sewer odor. We ignored it as best we could and figured it would be corrected ASAP. After a quick stop at the purser’s desk to get our rooms straight, it was after 1pm so we went to our rooms. We were on deck 6 all the way forward starting with 6014. The rooms were as expected. For many in our group, they had been on Carnival and were used to the slightly bigger rooms, but who cares, we were on a cruise!! We went to the Windjammer and had lunch. Here is a tip: Go to the back of the Windjammer, the lines are shorter and they had a better food selection back there (IMHO). I had the honey fried chicken breast and made several return trips! After lunch, we walked around and went to see if our luggage had finished arriving. Some of our rooms had their luggage waiting the first time got there! Then we had our muster drill, typical, if you have been to one, you have been to them all, but they are necessary and are a good thing to have.

 

 

Our sail away was nice, we waved to the lonely man at Grills restaurant (cold weather and we figured most folks were still at work). Once we dropped the port pilot or what ever he is called, we were full steam ahead, and then it started! We hit some pretty rough seas and were listing like crazy. We had late seating in the Mirage dining room so our welcome aboard show was at 7pm. The comedian we had was hilarious. I can’t recall his name right now, he was in Passenger 57 and has been on BET before. My favorite joke of his went something like this: Y’all think we are going to the Bahamas, but I’ve got news for you, I have taken over this ship and we are headed to Africa. I am going to pull up and shout “ Hey, I have got a boat full of white people for you!” You had to be there, sorry if you find it offensive. Our cruise director was a guy named Chris. He was pretty good but you could tell he was a bit new at it. Out of 13 in our group, 5 made it to dinner that night. I had the breast of chicken stuffed with broccoli and cheese and was in heaven. After dinner, those of us who weren’t sick walked around the ship for a while and then called it a night.

 

 

Tuesday, January 18th,2005

 

 

We were supposed to go to Cocoa Cay but due to the rough seas, we skipped the island and arrived in Nassau around 1pm. We were glad to be in port and get extra time in Nassau. We ate lunch and then headed to the Atlantis. After several hours of looking around and mostly gambling, we hailed a cab back to the ship. The show that night was a comedian with a duck puppet named Chucky. The comedian was a little slow at first, but once he brought out his puppet, the show picked up and was very funny. The best part was when he pulled some people out of the audience and they each put on a nose piece of the animal they were to represent. There was a cow, a rooster, donkey, and one other animal I can’t recall. Anyway, they proceeded to sing Old MacDonald had a farm… with each person taking their respective verses and a guy who did nothing but say: eeeye eeye oohh (you get the point). Well, the first time it came to the rooster, she got tongue twisted with her cock-a-doodle-doos and said here a …. there a ….. everywhere a ….. and completely embarrassed her self and the audience fell apart with laughter. I don’t know if that was pre planned but it was priceless. We all made it to dinner that night. I had the shrimp scampi and it was good as usual. The waiters danced and did their thing. After dinner, we decided to go check out the dueling pianos. They were good, but not what I had expected, to me it was no different from the piano bars on Carnival.

 

 

Wednesday, January 19th, 2005

 

 

We ate breakfast in the Windjammer and the omelets were by far the best choice. Another tip: If you don’t like the eggs they serve, it is worth the time to wait and have an omelet made with what ever you want on them. We got off the ship again and went back over to the Atlantis for a while. Later that day we walked around town a bit but the shops were closing and so we didn’t get much shopping in. Our show was at 11pm this night, a little late for us so we skipped it. It was some singer from the drifters, I heard he was pretty good. For dinner that night, I had the Filet Mignon and it like all of the other food on this trip it was excellent. We were able to catch the newlywed not so newlywed game in the Follies theatre. Usual questions and some good answers. There was one couple who must have been high or something, they thought they were funny and kept trying to make jokes and finally the audience began to get irritated but we made it through. Walked around a bit and then went to the deck party as we set sail from Nassau.

 

 

Thursday, January 20th, 2005

 

 

We were able to stop in Cocoa Cay but only for a short time. Right after we tendered over to the island and walked around a bit, they began announcing that the Captain had cancelled the stop due to the weather headed our way and we were to make our way back to the tenders. I was disappointed but felt sorry for the crew who had already started cooking the bbq. It smelled good! The seas were noticeably getting choppier and the tender in front us had to switch sides of the ship due to the high waves and they were probably scared that some one might get flung off of the gangway between the ship and tender. It was finally our turn and as we were getting back on the ship, the Captain was there helping people back on board. I was really impressed that he got his hands dirty and was helping out his crew. They added some on board activities and we set sail as soon as everyone was back on board. Throughout all of this, the ship wasn’t rocking much at all and that made for a smooth sailing back to Canaveral. The production show that night was Flashback, it is a show that isn’t to be missed. It was time to pack and put out our luggage for pickup. Like the Carnival Glory, they now afford you the option to carry off your own luggage and thus be one of the first groups off of the ship.

 

 

Friday, January 21st, 2005

 

 

We had purple tags and were 3rd from last but didn’t mind the wait too much. Once off, we went to the cars and made the long trip home that always seems longer than the trip to the ship!

 

 

Summary / Observations:

 

 

This was my 8th cruise with 4 on Carnival. There are indeed some differences between the two cruise lines but none that were prominent. The food on this trip was some of the best, but that is only one person’s opinion. I miss some of the younger crowd’s on Carnival but only a little. Royal Caribbean definitely has the best loyalty program and I wish Carnival would take notes. I would sail either line without hesitation. Now that I have 2 RCI cruises under my belt I regret my past feeling for RCI based on other opinions because they were not accurate. That being said, if you haven’t sailed both lines then you really have no basis to compare one to the other. You would be surprised by both!

 

 

Our wait staff and room steward team were top notch and always on top of things. The Captain helping guests back on board has bought RCI my business again in October. His actions really showed a lot of class and tact.

 

 

There were a lot of older people on this cruise with most being friendly and having a great time, especially the ladies of the red hat society (?) But honest to goodness, some of those old folks were rude and down right mean. They had little regard for LINES and those who were waiting in them! My mother in law had her foot ran over by a scooter and the man’s wife simply said: Don’t worry honey, he has done much worse to other people! And once while we were walking out of the Follies theatre, an old man elbowed her in the back as he was walking by without any apology or an excuse me! I found some of this surprising but in no way did it affect our cruise!

 

 

They need to loosen up those slots and get more nickel machines for us cheap gamblers.

 

 

One last joke from the first comedian: He fell in love with is cabin toilet and it’s “flushing” power, that he put a wig on it and named her Toiletta after he got a hickey on is rear!

 

 

I almost forgot: The refurbs on this ship were well worth it, they brought new life to the ship with better room names and décor, such as Boleros. The ship was cleaner and brighter. The sewer smell crept up off and on but I hear that is a typical issue with older ships.

 

 

I know I have forgotten something so if you have any questions, please feel free to ask or email. This review is only my opinion and shouldn’t be taken otherwise.

[ALIASapoFan]

Thanks for the review. We sail on this ship next month! The toiletta joke is hysterical to me...

[jsimpson73]

Thanks for the post, we sail this ship May 16

[robinzhere]

Great review!

 

What is the minimum gambling age for Atlantis? (Is there one?) I'll be traveling with my 18 year old son on the Majesty to Nassau and he's asked if he can spend a limited amount of his own money there. I know it's 18 on the ship.

[Chriz]

I don't remember but it seems like the Atlantis was 18 but don't hold me to it

[dexter727]

Nice review Chriz. We were also on this cruise and mostly agree with everything you stated. We were a bit suprised that the crowd was so old (overall) but really have nothing bad to say at all. The red hat ladies seemed to have a great time. Our 2nd time on Sovereign as well and we were happy with the way the ship looks. It was very clean throughout and, just like last time, we received excellent service. Went for a Junior Suite this time and it was nice, especially the large balcony. Too bad it was cold most of the cruise :(

My daughter (7) loved the Adventure Ocean program once again.

We'd definitely do this cruise again.

[Mabers]

I'm starting to get excited! What a great revue, Chriz! It's good to know what to order food-wise too. I am one of the ol' folks (there are 10 of us senile citizens), but we are not ignorant!

Thanks for posting!

M.

[colette5479]

Great review! So sorry you had to miss Coco Cay but is sounds like you made the most of the rest of the cruise. I hope to try SOS again soon

[captainal]

They made some nice improvements and upgrades to the old girl, but...

 

(a) In the fitness center, they eliminated the showers, sauna and steam rooms so now if you're all sweated up after an aerobics class or workout, you must use the elevators and passageways back to your cabin to take a shower. In their place they put several private rooms reserved for your $200. full-body massage.

 

(b) Want to relax with a good book in a quiet corner of the library? They moved it to an open wall in the noisy atrium with but four shelves of books (BYOB). The old library room is now an office for the "Future Cruise" sales desk.

 

© On a more positive note, the new multi-buffets in the Windjammer are wonderful.

[kg4pit]

Thanks for the review. We are going on the Sovereign in October. It will be our 3rd time on the Sovereign. We are taking my in-laws for their anniversary. They have never cruised before, but they are looking forward to it.

[Holly_M]

Your review was very informative. My husband and I are booked to go on the SOS on 02/14/2005. There are several couples who will be joining us on this cruise and we're all looking forward to our trip. It's been a few years since I've been on a cruise and I've never sailed with RCCL before. My husband spent 20 years in the Air Force and has travelled all around the world...but never on a cruise ship. I know he's going to truly enjoy the experience!

 

If you think of anything else to share about your trip, let me know! Thanks again for taking the time to write your review :).

 

We plan on driving to the port and leaving our vehicle parked there. Does anyone have any suggestions or tips about parking?!? Thanks!