Departure Party on Sovereign of the Seas
This cruise Review was orignially written immediately after the cruise in October of 2000, and posted to the rec.travel.cruises. It can also be found in the SeaCruise Reviews web site (www.seacruisereviews.com). However, they don't have pictures!
I got this cruise for my husband for our anniversary, as a surprise. I let him know about it 5 days in advance so that he could plan and pack himself. I had already told him that I was taking him somewhere, and had given him a prescription snorkel mask. On his birthday/our anniversary (October 12, I gave him traveler's checks, SPF 8 sunscreen (His favored SPF, mine is 30), a guide book of the Bahamas, and the cruise documents, in a notebook full of information that I had gleaned on rtc and various web sitems and such.
Wednesday the 11th I called Royal Caribbean to leave a cabin number so I could leave it with my ex-husband (who was with my kids). Our cabin was 3606. We wrote that on our grey 'Sovereign of the Seas' tags. Packing as minimally as we could we ended up with two suitcases (one big one of clothes, and one smaller one with snorkel gear) and two carryons. It felt like we were leaving for a month!
We spent the night before in a Motel 6 near BWI airport in Baltimore. Up at 5 AM after not much sleep and we were at BWI in the satellite parking lot at 5:30, ready to go. Shuttle to the main terminal and on to a Southwest flight at 7:00 AM. The flight was pleasant, and we touched down in Orlando on time, around 9:05 AM.
I'd arranged my own airfare, but had purchased transfers. Finding the Royal Caribbean representatives in the terminal, at baggage check and at the bus stand was a breeze. We did wait well over an hour for a bus, and the one that showed up had only two seats for the six people waiting. Mark and I got the seats, since we and another couple had been there first, and the other husband was off getting a soda. So we found the last two seats and went to Port Canaveral.
One in Port Canaveral, we just left the bus, while most of the other riders were checking on their luggage. They had said to just leave it, as long as it had grey tags on it, and ours did. So we were among the first to check in, around 11:30 AM. We were led to a lounge, where we were asked to wait. Since my understanding was that we could not board until 2:00 I was ready to wait 2 1/2 hours. I was pleasantly surprised when we were moved along right at noon, and onto the ship within about 15 minutes. By noon we were opening our cabin door, 3606, just as promised.
The cabins on Sovereign of the Sea are quite small, particularly after the bed is put in queen bed mode, but it was quite adequate to my needs. I may have had problems if I was going for a week on this ship, but for three or five days I'd find it quite adequate. We had been upgraded from an inside guarantee to an outside cabin, and this helped. The bathroom is a marvel of efficiency, and there are lots of little hidden storage spots, which I liked.
We headed for the Windjammer for the lunch buffet. It was OK, but uninspiring. Mark said the chicken was OK, but the pizza (cheese) and tortilla wraps were boring and bland. (I am a vegetarian.) Also I will note, since there is a Vegan on this board considering a trip on this vessel, that there were pretty limited vegan options in this buffet. I think I'd have been hungry had I not been willing to eat cheese and eggs.
Next we started wandering around the ship, from deck to deck. This was a lot of fun. We poked into the Gigi dining room, then into the Kismet. I thought the Gigi was prettier, but we were assigned to the Kismet. We went on floor by floor and room by room. This was great fun. In the Music Man Lounge, and in the Viking Crown Lounge, there were weddings going on. IN fact we just about walked into the one in the Music Man, because we tried a back door that was open and unattended. We beat a hasty retreat. In about an hour we'd be watching the photography of the wedding party from the top of the atrium.
A few notes about this ship. It is beautiful, especially the Atrium, the Dining rooms and some of the lounges. The Music Man lounge seemed almost like an afterthought, though that may have been because the events in it were not well attended. Also the carpeting in the stateroom area could use replacing, as it is getting a bit worn. In all honesty I would never have noticed this, except that someone threw up on the carpet, and we happened along as they were cleaning it up, and after that I noticed a lot of spots and such on the carpet on our floor.
We were well situated, near the Gigi dining room on the third level. After touring the ship, we put on suits and headed for the hot tubs, and enjoyed some time there. Finally at 5:30 or so we sailed, after watching the Carnival Fantasy and Disney Wonder leave port ahead of us. We went on down to our stateroom and changed into clothes appropriate for dinner. Mark's Tux had been delivered.
Departure Party on Sovereign of the Seas
First nights dinner was a Viennese feast. I discovered that the full vegetarian menu meant one option for each course, at least this first night. This was not a problem as the options were pretty good in the dining room. I had a mozzarella and tomato salad as an appetizer, a chilled strawberry soup, a salad with Italian dressing, a calzone with roasted veggies inside (this was mostly vegan, though I would wonder about the crust) and Tiramisu for dessert. The food was good, though I've had better Tiramisu. The service was, of course, impeccable. I'd asked for a table for 8, and our dinner partners for the cruise consisted of a family with two adolescent daughters and two empty chairs (?!?) Since one of the daughters was also a vegetarian, I had something in common, but the family never seemed to really get into cruising.
Show Lounge/Theatre
That night we attended the show, which was a production show with a bunch of singers and dancers. Then we did some browsing in the shops and checked out our embarkation picture (which we chose not to get). We got into bed fairly early, at around 11:00. The seas were pretty rough that night, and one of the girls in the family dining with us was having some motion sickness problems. Also, it was pretty much impossible to walk in a straight line.
The next morning we woke early and headed to the Windjammer for coffee and pastry at 7:00. At 8:00 I attended the Fat Buster Aerobic class while Mark worked out on a treadmill. The instructor, David, was very good, managing an interesting and varied routine while using a few simple moves, which could be handled even when the ship was moving. I got a good workout and was impressed (I have an AFAA instructor certification and teach aerobics, so this was a big thing) After working out we returned to our stateroom to shower and dress for our trip into Nassau, plus put on some sunscreen. AT 10:30 we headed back to Windjammer, and had a full breakfast at the very end of the buffet, to help us avoid eating lunch. The breakfast was good (how can you mess up breakfast?) however there were some potatoes that were not so good.
On the deck, coming into Nassau
We were not able to get off the ship until close to noon, and we headed right for the shopping area. I got some Bahamian money from an ATM. Turns out I did not need it at all, U.S. money worked just fine. We walked to the post office, which was closed (at this point we realized that this was a holiday: Discovery Day). But we picked up some stamps at Cole's pharmacy. We got some postcards, and wandered down to the straw market, where I did some Christmas shopping and such.
Straw Market, Nassau
Colonial Government Square in Nassau
After a couple of hours of this, we went back to the ship, unloaded, and took a water taxi to Paradise Island. Rather than check out Atlantis, though, we checked out the Versailles Garden and Cloister, and ended up on the grounds of the rather tony Ocean Beach Club. We finally found our way back to the road and took a van back to the ship for just $4 each. Never even got to Atlantis. I have three or four days worth of Nassau sightseeing and activities that were just not possible, so we will need to get back.
Cloister, Paradise Island, Nassau
We went back to the ship around 4, and again headed for the hot tub. They were pretty full, but we managed to squeeze ourselves in and soak for a while. Then we headed back to our room in order to change for dinner. This was formal dinner night.
The Captain's Gala dinner was the only time on the whole cruise when there was a problem, and our waiter handled it wonderfully. It turned out that the menu for the dinner lacked vegetarian options for TWO courses (which seemed a bit much). There was no vegetarian appetizer and no vegetarian salad (Caesar Salad, which was offered, has anchovies in the dressing). I expressed my dismay to the waiter, who went back to the kitchen and returned with a fruit cocktail appetizer for me, and a tomato basil vinaigrette for my salad. So I ordered my meal, the above mentioned plus a cold pear soup and the Vegetable Cutlet entree. One of our table mates, the father of the family ordered THREE shrimp cocktails, as the shrimp scampi the night before (which my husband had also had) only had 5 shrimp on it. And he got it, which was really nice.
This dinner was great, especially the vegetable cutlet, which was wonderful. There was a white sauce, but it did not taste like it was dairy-based (for the Vegan looking in on this). The Pear soup, like the strawberry soup the night before, was very good. For dessert I had a chocolate soufflé, which was absolutely out of this world wonderful and delicious. I resisted asking for a second. The father at the table with us also had a shrimp cocktail for dessert.
Before dinner we had formal shots taken in front of most of the backgrounds that they offered. This was my first cruise, and I wanted a 'prom picture' from it. Then we went and hung out in the casino, watching folks gamble. I was particularly interested in the blackjack and Mark was interested in the quarted cascade machines. I will note that one nice thing about this casino is that I never felt funny just watching the action, which has not been true when I have watched blackjack in other casinos (like in San Juan PR and Atlantic City) We went up to the Viking Crown Lounge because there was supposed to be live music, but somehow there was not. I had not been there before though, so I walked around and looked out the windows. It was pretty dead though, not much was happening. We went back down to the Music Man lounge, where there was supposed to be big band music, which there was, but it was very sparsely attended (not more than 15 people in the room, and not more than 4 on the dance floor at one time.) Mark and I dance together, but he's a bit shy, so in some ways this was a great opportunity for us, we had an immense amount of fun just dancing and doing whatever we wanted. There was another couple who were great dancers. I just hope this is not always the case with the Big Band dancing, because I really love it and would hate to see it go.
At 11:00 we went back to the Show Lounge and watched a comedian who was just hilarious. It was a good show. At the end of it there was an ominous announcement, however, that due to rough seas they might not be able to land at Coco Cay the next day. If not there would be a sea day. After the show we wandered a bit before returning to the Gigi dining room for the midnight buffet. As a vegetarian I found the whole roast pig a bit disconcerting, but I was not hungry, so I only had a few slices of cheese and a piece of pastry. There was little on this buffet for vegetarians, would have been almost nothing for Vegans. After the buffet we headed back to our room for bed.
We woke a bit later the next morning, and I skipped the workout. Instead we decided to try the dining room for breakfast. This breakfast (we had omelets) was better than the one in the Windjammer, if less huge. Afterwards we got our stuff and headed for the gangplank. The good news was that while the seas were still a bit rough, we had been able to land at Coco Cay, and if the ride over was possibly a touch exciting, it was very possible.
Sovereign of the Seas from the tender
Coco Cay was a blast. We went for the mandatory snorkeling orientation, and we rented vests (we had our own equipment) then snorkeled around their area.
Sovereign of the Seas from Cococay
Fish at Cococay
Because of the rough weather, the water was a touch cloudy, and they warned that only strong ocean swimmers should snorkel in the deeper area. We chose to keep to the shallow area. After a couple of hours we sat down, drank a few Coco Locos and then walked down the beach until it became deserted. Then we headed back for a late lunch. There was a LOT of meat, and I was not sure that the beans did not contain some pork, so I limited myself to a few salads (there were lettuce, tomato, cucumber and onions, and five bean salads that were vegan; the pasta salad contained some mayonnaise) so I asked the server if I might have a bun and cheese, as I was a vegetarian. I was delighted when he offered me a veggie-burger, which they had in the back. BUT YOU HAVE TO ASK. The girl at our table, we discovered at dinner, had not said anything, and had no idea they had veggie burgers. They also had fruit and cake and corn on the cob, which I did not partake of. My husband said the ribs were great. After lunch we snorkeled a bit more, until I got tired, and then we headed back to the ship early. This was very lucky, since the last tender had a lot of trouble; the seas became rough and they had a lot of trouble hooking up a gangplank, and the ride was very scary for the participants. They took well over an hour getting them on the ship.
Cococay
We tried to use the hot tub again, but it was full. This ship could really use more hot tubs. Four would not be out of line. On Saturday there was a line to use them, and there were frequently more than 4 people in them.
Dinner that night was also very good. It was an international celebration, and the waiters all sang in the dining room (they had the first night also). They had vegetable egg rolls which were wonderful, two soup options; a vegetable consommé and a chilled cucumber (I had the consommé), Curried vegetables (which were too spicy for the palates of our table mates, but which I thought were wonderful, although I was getting really full at that point) and for dessert a sinfully delicious flourless chocolate cake.
The Wait Staff
My husband was terribly impressed by our waiters, who did a lot for us (especially getting special food for me on Friday night) so we did give them big tips. They really worked flawlessly as a team. WE were terribly impressed.
Casino
That evening I did a little gambling, losing $20 a the blackjack table. I'd never played more than slots in a casino, but I am not willing to gamble my money away. We bought some of the pictures, including two of the formal shots, and did some last minute souvenir shopping. Then we packed and put our stuff out in the hall. We attended the show, of course, which was a family juggling and unicycle comedy act. It was very professional and well done, and the whole cruise director staff did a goodbye number. After the show, we headed for the Finian's rainbow lounge, to spend a few minutes watching Karaoke. We ended up spending more like a couple of hours, it was great fun. The crew member who lead it was very energetic, and the whole audience was supportive of the singers, even when they were not very good. I've been at Karaoke where bad singers were booed, and places where there was a polite silence, but this was supportive of everyone, they found something to cheer at for everyone. It was truly great and we could not tear ourselves away.
Pool Deck at night on Sovereign of the Seas
Sunday morning came waayy too early. Mark is already talking about doing a weeklong cruise next time. We decided to do a Cape Canaveral tour Sunday because our flight was not until 5:30 PM. It was OK, but a bit overpriced. Still we could not have done it on our own. One advantageous side effect of it was we were the first folks off the ship. Unfortunately our luggage was lost. Two of the tags had come off (the strings were still attached to our luggage, but the tag itself was gone). It took us about 20 minutes to find and recover the luggage, but we did and were on our way off the ship.
For me, the highlights of the trip were:
And NO, this will not be our last cruise. Next a 7 day Southern Caribbean, I think.....