3/4/05

By sailingrose

• February 11, 2007

Background: I?ve cruised on many of the major lines but RCI seems to be our favorite. My 18 year old daughter and I took this 3 day trip for some well deserved mother/daughter time.

Since we had sailed on the Sovereign 5 times in the past we were very curious to see the new improvements since her dry docking last year. We were not disappointed and loved the appeal of the new Sovereign. We arrived around noon and it took only 10 minutes to board the ship. Immediately upon boarding we noticed the improvements to the Guest Relations area. It reminded me of the style aboard the new RCI builds. We headed to the new and improved Windjammer and loved the way it was redone, separate stations for each kind of food. It was laid out very well. The addition of Johnny Rockets and Sorrento?s Pizza upstairs was very nice. We had a quick bite and then looked around the pool deck.

At 1:00 we headed toward our cabin an outside on deck 3. Our cabin steward Randy was excellent. Our only real disappointment with the ship is that the rooms still seemed very old. It would have been wonderful if RCI would have updated the bedding more. The bathroom had a mini facelift and looked pretty good for a ship of her age. We did have the sewer smell in our cabin but in a few hours it was gone. Others I spoke to also mentioned it but we didn?t smell it again. We dropped off our stuff and headed out to see the rest of the improvements.

The kid?s area had a total redo and it was wonderful! Lots of fun space for the younger ones and the teen?s area was much expanded. Each area had computers, games, etc. The teen area had nice chairs and large video screens.

We checked out the show lounge and Bolaros which used to be Finnians Rainbow. The lounge was totally redone and it looks marvelous. Bolaros the Latin club was the hot spot on the ship for us. The staff, MaryLynn, Jorge, and Ryan were excellent. We enjoyed the dueling pianos in the evening with Rose and Jeff and in the daytime the art auction, trivia games, etc were held here. My daughter enjoyed the Disco as well late at night.

We were on the deck 4 dining room late seating and the service and food were very good. The first night we had the Italian Dinner and I enjoyed the Scampi. The second night we had the beef and it was excellent. The last night was the weakest menu for me (Turkey) but I didn?t starve. I must say the food was much improved from what we had on the Jewel in December. I?m not a buffet fan but the food even here was much improved. We only had breakfast one morning in the dining room and it was very efficient and the Eggs Benedict were very good. We also ate at Johnny Rockets (free coupon for Crown and Anchor) and really enjoyed it especially the onion rings. We did order milkshakes and they were excellent.

I didn?t see any of the shows except the dueling pianos. Also didn?t use the spa or the gym. We never had trouble finding a seat at the pool. My daughter was able to gamble for the first time this trip and she liked the nickel slots. I did let her play the Wheel of Fortune for me. I enjoyed playing Black Jack and Let It Ride. I only lost a little for the weekend.

We had a great time in Nassau. Did a little shopping and then went to Senor Frogs. Lots of fun! We didn?t make Cococay as the seas were too high. Only wish the Captain didn?t make the announcement in our cabin at 8:00 am that we couldn?t go. Could have gotten some more sleep. We enjoyed the sea day and all too soon it was over.

Disembarking began at about 7:30. We got off just before 8:00 and once we cleared immigration we hopped in the car for our short drive home.

We both truly enjoyed our time on the Sovereign and I look forward to sailing her twice more this year. RCI really did a lovely job with the remodel. She?s a grand old ship with a wonderful crew and I wouldn?t hesitate recommending her to anyone.