Overall Score

BERLITZ'S RATING
	Possible	Achieved
Ship	500	422
Accommodation	200	159
Food	400	258
Service	400	298
Entertainment	100	81
Cruise	400	310

How this score is created

This is a streamlined contemporary ship (built in 66 blocks), and has a two-deck-high wrap-around structure in the forward section of the funnel. Along the ship’s port side, a central glass wall protrudes, giving great views (cabins with balconies occupy the space directly opposite on the starboard side). The gently rounded stern has nicely tiered decks, which gives the ship an extremely well-balanced look. As is common aboard all Royal Caribbean International vessels, the navigation bridge is of the fully enclosed type (good for cold-weather areas). One of two swimming pools can be covered by a large glass dome (called a magrodome) for use as an indoor/outdoor pool.

The interior decor is contemporary, yet elegant, bright and cheerful, designed for active, young and trendy types. The artwork is abundant and truly eclectic. A nine-deck high atrium lobby has glass-walled lifts (on the port side) that travel through 12 decks, face the sea and provide a link with nature and the ocean. The Centrum (as the atrium is called) has several public rooms connected to it: the guest relations (the erstwhile purser’s office) and shore excursions desks, a Lobby Bar, Champagne Bar, the Library, Royal Caribbean Online, the Concierge Club, and a Crown & Anchor Lounge. A great view can be had of the atrium by looking down through the flat glass dome high above it.

There’s also a Champagne Bar, and a large Schooner Bar that houses mari­time art in an integral art gallery, not to mention the Casino Royale. There’s also a small, deeply tiered, dedicated movie screening room (with space for two wheelchairs), as well as a 194-seat conference center, a business center, and several conference rooms.

A Viking Crown Lounge is set around the ship’s funnel. This functions as an observation lounge during the daytime; in the evening, the space hosts Starquest, a futuristic, high-energy dance club, and Hollywood Odyssey, a more intimate and relaxed entertainment venue for softer mood music and “black-box” theater.

Youth facilities include Adventure Ocean, an “edutainment” area with four separate age-appropriate sections for junior passengers: Aquanaut Center (for ages 3–5); Explorer Center (6–8); Voyager Center (9–12); and the Optix Teen Center (13–17). Adventure Beach in­cludes a splash pool with waterslide; Surfside has computer lab stations with entertaining software; and Ocean Arcade is a video games hangout.

This second of a new generation of RCI ships (more are to follow) has been constructed for longer itineraries, with more space and comfortable public areas, larger cabins and more dining options – for the young, active, and trendy set. A computer business center has 12 PCs with high-speed internet access for sending and receiving emails. The onboard currency is the US dollar.

Berlitz Guide © Apa Publications 2008