Hi everyone at Royal Caribbean.
We made it home safe and sound from our first cruise ever. It all started back in August 2017 when my wife Eli Haga and myself Steinar Haga decided we would buy a cruise for the two of us and our two kids Eileen Haga and Øystein Haga as well as their spouses Knut Wølstad and Michelle Etemesi.
You can imagine how it must have looked like a bumpy ride ahead, to start planning flights, hotels, rental cars and cruise for the six of us. Luckily, we hooked up with Shannon Fahy at Avoya Travel. I don't know how it all started, but she took care of business when it came to cruise arrangements. In fact, I handed all of it over to her and let her do the things that was needed. Shannon was wonderful, and I see no reason why I shall not book through her in the future.
So here is a brief overview of how our cruise experience was:
We departed Canaveral April 1st for a week in the Caribbean on Oasis of the Seas. Our first thought was "it's too big to float�. Our kids (age range 27 -31) could not wait to board, a procedure lasting about half an hour. The suitcases disappeared and surfaced again as we came to our cabins. No problem.
We entered at 5th level and was suggested to go to our level 8 to wait for cabin to be ready half an hour later.
Our first shock was when we entered 8th level. We came to a park with trees, restaurants, bars. It was unbelievable clean, easy living and we found 6 high chairs and a table. It turned in to a bar and I suggested to buy all 6 of us a Pina Colada to start off our trip. And I didn't even know it was free.
The cabin(s) was much finer than I had anticipated. It was just perfect in size when the two big suitcases were hidden under the bed. The balcony was just right and will be a must in our future travel. The bath room had everything, and my wife told me she had to adjust down on the water in the shower as it was so plentiful. And it was unbelievable quiet.
The food and entertainment were for everyone to enjoy. Eli and I had our easy living while the kids did their things trying to cover everything.
Labadee was our first landing and it was nice to enjoy the beach and its facilities. I found the prices to be a bit on the high side. 15 seconds of fun over the beaches in a sling at a cost of 100 US $ is too high. Especially when you consider cost of living in the country we are visiting.
Then onwards to Jamaica. Unfortunately, I had not prepared any events during our cruise. I guess the total workload and inexperience in the matter is to blame. We had a stroll around the local city and spent time on the ship.
Then onwards to Mexico. My son had booked me on a full day snorkeling event with lunch. That was absolutely one of the highlights off shore. The value of the cost was superb and worth every penny we spent. I would do it again. And the tour guide was exceptional competent. We snorkeled for turtles and in a fresh water cave, as well as having lunch at a resort. I would recommend this for anyone to experience. One part of our group went on horseback riding and the other one went for ruins and chocolate tasting. We were all very happy with the Mexico stop.
Now, was there anything that I would have wish was different. Yes and no. Here are a few details that is meant to be positive feedback from us:
- Everyone was free to move about at their own liking. But all six of us tried to have breakfast together as well as dinner. Then we could have ample time to visit and we did use a lot of time at the table to kick off the day or to summarize in the evening. We selected the breakfast buffet and it was grand. It had everything, and it was just amazing in all aspects of the word. Selection, quality, cleanness, plentiful….. it was just awesome.
At our first dinner we felt to be rushed to make the table available for the next guests. And we filed a complaint on it. Usually complaints appear to go straight to the bin. Not with Royal Caribbean. I received a call in my cabin and a very friendly representative invited me to dine at the time we wanted, and they would always have a table available for the six of us. And they even set us up with our personal waiter. Can you imagine. We felt like royals.
I would like to mention our waiter. I believe his name is Lito. Could you please look him up for me and thank him for representing his employer in such a wonderful way? I have 40 years in international travel and can spot when you have an individual suited for more challenging tasks. I suggest Lito is appointed supervisor role or a role in training. He will be very good at it. I have 13 years as supervisor and teaching in international aviation. I know when I see quality.
- In future cruises I will ask Shannon to make it possible for us to eat at all the ships restaurants. When 6000 people eat dinner in 3 different levels it is noisy. I was not aware that we had the opportunity to dine at all restaurants for a nominal fee. I will do that in the future.
- Was there anything I would have changed. Yes, it was. We gave up having a sunbed on the upper floors. Most of them was empty all the time, but apparently someone believed that if you had your towel on it was yours. Even if they didn't use it for hours or most of the day.
It is the responsibility of the crew to deal with this. I saw one sign placed in the far corner of the area and for no-one to see. It is the crew on behalf of the captain that has imposed rules of maximum 30 minutes off from the sunbed and its free fore anyone. And it is the responsibility of the crew to implement the rules. It is not the guests. I tried to use one bed that I had spotted for 45 minutes and had it for about 2 hours. Then the owner of the towel cam by and told me (rather aggressively) that I had to move. I could off course told her to………. But I didn't. That was our last time on the sun deck.
My suggestion is that the crew on a random basis uses a note with a time on it, a clip (like the one used to hold the towels from flying off) and if the towel was there 30 minutes later, remove it and make the bed available for anyone else. Then the blame is on the crew, not on your fellow passenger.
- Then the final remarks. Did we enjoy it. Are we going to do this again? Yes, yes, yes. In fact, my wife just fell in love with this form of vacation. We are thinking of the February 25th Miami to San Diego cruise. And I see no reason why we should not have Shannon at Avoya Travel help us.
Best regards
Steinar and Eli Haga
(Øystein Haga and Michelle Etemesi — Eileen Haga and Knut Wølstad)
Sandvedhagen 11,
4318 Sandnes
Norway
[email protected]
+47 900 82 666
