Cruise Ship: Sovereign of the Seas
Cruise Destination: Bahamas from Port Canaveral
Cruise Dates: August 1 - August 5, 2005
Guest Contributor: Ralph Berg
Myself,my wife and three daughters,ages 8,13,and 14 took Royal Carribean's 4 night cruise to the Bahama's. The recently refurbished Sovereign of the Seas was simply beautiful.
We had two adjoining/connected staterooms on the 8th deck. We were at the rear of the ship. This worked out nicely as we were just a few steps from the rear elevators.
We took most of our meals in the dining room. The food was excellent. My wife has an extreme sensitivity to MSG's in food. So much so,we really can't eat out any more.She was very worried she would have problems on board. I am happy to say she did not have one episode.
Although I usually avoid buffett's like the plague, I was very pleased with the midnight buffett aboard the Sovereign. Although very crowded,the food was great and also plentiful.
Executive Chef Wim Van Der Pus gave us a very thorough tour of the ship's galley. Although it was noon and very busy it was amazing how clean everything was. He showed us how everything was made from scratch on board. Very impressive!
My 8 year old daughter enjoyed the Adventure Ocean program for children. She would have spent her entire voyage there had we let her. Special thanks to Stefan from Adventure Ocean for all he did for us. My teenage daughters spent their evenings in the Teen club. They are both eagerly awaiting their next cruise.
The ship spends one day tendered at RCI's private island,CoCoCay. The island could use more shaded area's to escape the sun. But it was very clean with many activities for everybody to enjoy. They brought a very nice lunch buffett over from the ship. There were not enough tables for everybody to sit and eat. Most guests ate and vacated their tables quickly to give others a chance to sit. We also spent a day in Nassau. We were alowed to disembark around 9:00am. We took the snorkeling excursion first thing in the morning. It included a nice boat trip through the harbor. The ship left Nassau at 12:30 that night. A pool party was in full swing with a live band as we pulled out of Nassau lit up like a Christmas tree. Good fun.
I can not say enough about how nice the entire staff of the ship was. The service was always excellent. My girls have already let me know their next vacation will be a cruise. I agree. And I might add it will be a Royal Carribean ship. It may even be the Sovereign of the Seas as we still have lots of exploring to do in Nassau!
