Be warned, it has been over a year, and I am still upset. That is mild, down south, we call it pissed off, because we were pissed on.
The food was absolutely HORRIBLE. It was nothing like my expectations or what I was led to believe by others who have done cruises.
No ice carvings.
No shrimp, seafood buffets, or fish selection.
No assortment of tropical fruit.
No elaborate salad bars.
No thick juicy steaks, or even a decent hamburger.
No large selection of deserts like in Vegas or the casinos of nearby Tunica, MS.
We honestly would have eaten better at Luby's Cafeteria. I promise you,this was a sorry excuse for dining food. It was inedible. And I can tell
you, that as a policeman, I usually can eat anything; I can eat like a goat. But, the pabulum on board was absolute funk. I have had better steak in a coffee shop.
The bread in the dining room (Gigi's) was cold, hard, and tasteless. Maybe this is just a southern thing, but bread should be hot enough to melt the butter when it is spread on it. The steak was smothered in some kind of mystery sauce. The steak itself was bland and thin. The vegetables tasted about like the ones that are put in one of those Hungry-man TV dinners. Well, to be honest, the veggies were more comparable to one of the store brand cheaper TV dinners. The salad bar at the Windjammer offered iceberg lettuce and sparse condiments that even lacked the normal additional selections that are offered at Wendys. A salad shaker at McDonalds would have been much better. Finally, a theft report should have been taken by ship security because someone must have stolen the seafood. I saw no buffet busters on board that could have cleaned off the seafood. Where were the seafood, the shrimp, the crab, even the artificial crab and lobster meat, and the cheese platters?
Entertainment was nonexistent. They had a newly wed type game that could have been better produced by a high school theatre department. Never saw the cruise director, or maitre D, or a midnight buffet. I was refused room service at 0530 hrs the second morning because breakfast would be served shortly. This was probably a blessing. On day three, we ordered room service. The spinach wrap had raw salmon on it, the cheese plate consisted of about 6 slices of cheese with a fancy cut strawberry on the side. A redneck beer joint has better sandwiches and cheese plates.
Finally, we missed SCUBA diving because the ship was late to dock in the
Bahamas. It didn't dock until 12:15, couldn't leave ship until after 1300 hrs. My wife had just completed her dive classes in preparation for this cruise. She was to be certified in the Bahamas. Needless to say, we missed our diving.
I believe that this was just an extraordinary occurrence. Numerous people have told me that once you do a cruise, especially on the Royal Caribbean,that you will return many, many times. I have seen commercials from other cruise lines that show constant quality entertainment, fun, fine dining, and a large selection of activities. We specifically selected a short cruise, to sort of put our toe in the water, and check out the cruise experience.
In order to prepare for your RCCL cruise, I suggest that you sleep in your walkin closet and eat MRE. Also, learn how to take a Marine shower with a baby wipe, all this inside your closet.
Remember as a child, the anticipation of Christmas morning. The night before, one could hardly go to sleep because of the excitement.
We had hoped that the first cruise for our family would evoke the same feelings. It was to become a family tradition, sail just before the holidays each year, to sort of kick off the season. We had heard all of the stories from friends, how Carnival was great for the kiddies and wild teens. Royal Caribbean was great for adults and older teens, a combination suited for our family. Great shows, entertainment, delicious food, presented with carved ice sculptures with a huge assortment to fill everyones fancy. We just couldn't wait to be spoiled rotten on the RCCL Sovereign of the Seas.
The food quality on board was similar to school cafeteria food. I would have kissed a hairy legged waitress from Krystal's for a decent burger or breakfast.
Entertainment was much worse than high school plays. Our high school jazz band sounded better than the sax player in the lounge. I would rather go to a football game and watch drunks fight or go to a bowling alley and count rednecks for entertainment.
Be warned. One last comment. If you decide to disregard my advice, then at least smuggle some cokes, chips and beer onboard. The cokes were a buck and a half, the drinks were priced about the same as those in strip clubs.