Navigator of the Seas – Eastern Mediterranean - July 2011
We wanted to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary in style so we opted for a cruise on one of the bigger ships but after just two days I dreaded meal-times.
MAIN DININGROOM
At the onset, there were nine people at our table – my wife and I chose a table for eight on the booking form. We were literally crammed around the table so much that I could not bring my chair up to the table and had to lean forward to eat. Very uncomfortable indeed.
I don't blame the waiter because I would have thought this was down to the Head Waiter or whoever is responsible for the seating arrangements. Anyway, to sit every evening crammed around a dinner table for two hours, oh yes, evening meals took two hours, was not what I would call dining in comfort.
The waiter soon let us know what he thought about Formal nights. He stated that nobody should wear ties on holiday as it is a time to relax. Even the other men at our table were surprised at his attitude towards formal dress. They and I came to dinner with suits and ties anyway on the two formal nights. In fact I wore my tux the second Formal night and what a look of disapproval I got from the waiter.
I have let RC know that the waiter was not encouraging RC's dress code – the truth was he was doing the opposite. Why do RC offer tuxes for hire on the ship if the staff are against it?
My advice is 'Do not pay any gratuities upfront'. Wait until you are satisfied with the services and then pay what you want on the last evening. After all, you don't think about paying for tips at a restaurant until you have finished your meal. If you have any dollars over you can use them to pay off some of your account at Guest Relations.
WINDJAMMER
This was a nightmare. Not only did we have to spend ages trying to find a seat at breakfast and lunch times but also it was very difficult to get to an empty table anyway. They were so crammed into the dining areas.
There are no fried eggs, just hard boiled or really tasteless scrambled ones. The bacon was not crispy, nor soft, depends how you like it but so hard that it was difficult to cut. The rest of the food was not up to much either.
RC's response was a phone call informing me that they would pass on my comments to the ship and then tried their hardest to persuade me to use them again. lol
This dining room experience has put us both right off using Royal Caribbean again.
So it's back to Thomson's where we had better food, better service, better entertainment and far better value for your money - and I don't take my tux!
We wanted to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary in style so we opted for a cruise on one of the bigger ships but after just two days I dreaded meal-times.
MAIN DININGROOM
At the onset, there were nine people at our table – my wife and I chose a table for eight on the booking form. We were literally crammed around the table so much that I could not bring my chair up to the table and had to lean forward to eat. Very uncomfortable indeed.
I don't blame the waiter because I would have thought this was down to the Head Waiter or whoever is responsible for the seating arrangements. Anyway, to sit every evening crammed around a dinner table for two hours, oh yes, evening meals took two hours, was not what I would call dining in comfort.
The waiter soon let us know what he thought about Formal nights. He stated that nobody should wear ties on holiday as it is a time to relax. Even the other men at our table were surprised at his attitude towards formal dress. They and I came to dinner with suits and ties anyway on the two formal nights. In fact I wore my tux the second Formal night and what a look of disapproval I got from the waiter.
I have let RC know that the waiter was not encouraging RC's dress code – the truth was he was doing the opposite. Why do RC offer tuxes for hire on the ship if the staff are against it?
My advice is 'Do not pay any gratuities upfront'. Wait until you are satisfied with the services and then pay what you want on the last evening. After all, you don't think about paying for tips at a restaurant until you have finished your meal. If you have any dollars over you can use them to pay off some of your account at Guest Relations.
WINDJAMMER
This was a nightmare. Not only did we have to spend ages trying to find a seat at breakfast and lunch times but also it was very difficult to get to an empty table anyway. They were so crammed into the dining areas.
There are no fried eggs, just hard boiled or really tasteless scrambled ones. The bacon was not crispy, nor soft, depends how you like it but so hard that it was difficult to cut. The rest of the food was not up to much either.
RC's response was a phone call informing me that they would pass on my comments to the ship and then tried their hardest to persuade me to use them again. lol
This dining room experience has put us both right off using Royal Caribbean again.
So it's back to Thomson's where we had better food, better service, better entertainment and far better value for your money - and I don't take my tux!
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