How Would You Rate The Condition Of Royal's Ships

[Moby Dick]

Ovation was my last Royal Cruise, May 13, 2022.  I found it to be in like new shape.  I saw no damages, or at least nothing jumped out at me, to the walls, floors, fixtures, worn out furniture, or whatever.

However, my very first Royal Caribbean cruise was on the Oasis.  I really loved that ship then.  However, I found that it was showing it's age.  And that was back in Oct 2016.  The balcony furniture, you know the faux rattan stuff, was frazzled and coming apart, curtains frazzled, bedroom furniture scared/scratched/chipped and some of the locking mechanisms not working.  I believe that the Oasis had gone into drydock for it's 2.0 remodel but I don't think they remodeled all the rooms or any of them.  I watched a Youtube video this morning showing where they are actually using duct tape to hold the curtains to the wall in the living room part of the Aqua Theater Suite and of what I mentioned above.  

In December 2017, on the Allure, it was absolutely fantastic in every way.  Obviously, I can't speak to its condition today.  The rest were a long time ago as well.  So, I won't try to discuss today's condition.  But, would love to hear about the conditions of the ships today or at least recent past.

 

[CrznTxn]

When we first returned to sailing last August the ship looked a little "rustic". Not bad but not the pristine conditions we had prior to the "bug". Saw this on several ships during the first several months. As time progressed they started looking better and better. Our last cruise three weeks ago the ship, one we had previously sailed on, had fresh paint and appeared much cleaner than it was on its first restart cruise. Having more maintenance staff on board to maintain them and time to spruce it up is paying off.

[GatorCruiser]

Navigator looks good. Service has been great so far 

[Al Miller]

Anthem in April looked practically new still to my eyes. Granted, it's only a 7 year old ship that didn't see passengers for a year and a half. So it's functional age is only a little over 5 years.

[smokeybandit]

They're all in better shape than any of our houses

[wordell1]

They maintain a lot while still running cruises every week.

A few years back, they replaced the carpeting one all of the stairs of Liberty of the Seas while we were enjoying our cruise. They closed off 2 floors at at time for a few hours while they completed the work. I was impressed by how quickly they did it and the fact that they could do it with minimal impact on cruise passengers.

 

[WAYNO]

The longer they've been since drydock, they do suffer the cumulative effects of many thousands of non-stop guests, but I think they do quite well in mitigating the wear and tear of constant use.

[RCARD]

All things considered, they are in great shape!

[Paid4c4]

We were on the EOS in March and I found her to be clean, well painted and overall great shape.  With only 45% occupancy we had a great cruise with no crowds anywhere.

Bill

[ScooterScott22]

Harmony last month, overall things seemed to be in pretty good shape.  A few things showed some wear and tear if you looked.  The couch in the stateroom had some wear that was pretty easy to spot but you had to be looking to find other  problems/issues.

29 minutes ago, Paid4c4 said:

We were on the EOS in March and I found her to be clean, well painted and overall great shape.  With only 45% occupancy we had a great cruise with no crowds anywhere.

Bill

Explorer or Enchantment?

[Paid4c4]

7 minutes ago, ScooterScott22 said:

Harmony last month, overall things seemed to be in pretty good shape.  A few things showed some wear and tear if you looked.  The couch in the stateroom had some wear that was pretty easy to spot but you had to be looking for the the problems.

Explorer or Enchantment?

Explorer, sorry about that.

[WAAAYTOOO]

We sailed on Oasis in Dec. 2019 right after the amplification.  While I think it's true that they didn't do a lot of cabin renovations, generally, they actually did quite a bit of work on the Grand Panoramic Suite.  We had new curtains, new bed and while we were onboard, they replaced the carpeting in the bedroom. I suspect that the shutdown pretty much ended any further large scale renovations and they will probably be slow to start those back again.

[steverk]

I think the fleet is in great shape. Not perfect,  but great. I just got off Radiance and thought she looked good. However,  one elevator was out of commission. 

I sailed Liberty in March and found her looking good too.

In comparison,  there was a whale tail parked near us in cozumel.  She had the new hull paint, so that looked good, but the superstructure was a light, streaky brown color. Not so great.

[Moby Dick]

2 hours ago, ScooterScott22 said:

Harmony last month, overall things seemed to be in pretty good shape.  A few things showed some wear and tear if you looked.  The couch in the stateroom had some wear that was pretty easy to spot but you had to be looking to find other  problems/issues.

Explorer or Enchantment?

Bingo, the Harmony is my next cruise, at least as far as we have booked right now, but it isn't until Jan 24, that's another year and a half of use without a drydock, as far as I know.  So, I hope she doesn't disappoint.  We, again, are taking along my old Army buddy and his wife who will be enjoying their 2nd Royal Cruise in Star Class.  The first didn't work out well for them, we ran out of Genies and too many venues were closed.  So, I want to make it up to them and be on a beautiful and fully staffed ship.  

It also looks like my daughter and her husband are going to be going too.  But, they are easy to please.  They've cruise with us before and they are a great source of entertainment to us/anybody that knows them.  What a sweet and fun loving couple.  

[Moby Dick]

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I suspect that the shutdown pretty much ended any further large scale renovations and they will probably be slow to start those back again.

I'm afraid you are 100% right.  

[ScooterScott22]

Forgot to share this in my initial post.  We did Wonder of the Seas, in mid-March, she was in great shape and looked like a new ship! 

[greenline627]

Just got off the Adventure and it look great. 

[Moby Dick]

8 minutes ago, ScooterScott22 said:

 looked like a new ship! 

As far a you know!

[Jamesszy94]

7 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

We sailed on Oasis in Dec. 2019 right after the amplification.  While I think it's true that they didn't do a lot of cabin renovations, generally, they actually did quite a bit of work on the Grand Panoramic Suite.  We had new curtains, new bed and while we were onboard, they replaced the carpeting in the bedroom. I suspect that the shutdown pretty much ended any further large scale renovations and they will probably be slow to start those back again.

I've got a feeling Allure won't be getting her amplification until at least the end of next year/early 2024....by then, Utopia and Icon will be out though so who knows.

[Swar]

All 8 ships we've sailed, since October, have been very well maintained. My wife did comment on the Brilliance OTS windows being a tad dated/streaked. I think the recent dry dock should have fixed that issue.

[Koepper]

Was on Oasis in January and the ship looked great.

Was on Enchantment in May and the exterior was sad looking. Rust all over the ship. Rust also interior in the dining room along the up stairs windows. Exterior handrails also desperately needed varnish. Still had a great trip but the poor ship was in need of TLC.

[Jamesszy94]

3 hours ago, Koepper said:

Was on Oasis in January and the ship looked great.

Was on Enchantment in May and the exterior was sad looking. Rust all over the ship. Rust also interior in the dining room along the up stairs windows. Exterior handrails also desperately needed varnish. Still had a great trip but the poor ship was in need of TLC.

Unfortunately I think Royal will probably continue to let her deteriorate and then sell it off as they focus on their Oasis, Quantum and Freedom class ships. And also their Voyager class ships

[luv2sail]

Just stepped off Ovation yesterday. She was looking great and the service was perfect! It was my first time in a suite.  You guys were right! It was fantastic.

We sail on Allure in 28 days! Regular balcony this time. Hoping she is in good shape for us.

[Sushitex]

1 hour ago, Koepper said:

Was on Oasis in January and the ship looked great.

Was on Enchantment in May and the exterior was sad looking. Rust all over the ship. Rust also interior in the dining room along the up stairs windows. Exterior handrails also desperately needed varnish. Still had a great trip but the poor ship was in need of TLC.

We were on the Enchantment for 21 days in April and May. Agree about the rust in the dining room. When our stateroom was on the 7th deck, we noticed that maintenance workers were removing and then adding back most of the handrails along the corridor - we are not sure if they sanded and cleaned them ( think so )but they didn’t look newly-varnished anyway. We moved to the 8th deck for the last cruise, saw no maintenance going on there. 

[Jamesszy94]

To be fair though, Enchantment is like what? 25 years old  there's bound to be wear and tear from all the cruising she's done in her life time and the thousands of passengers that have sailed on her! Of course she's not going to look as pristine and new as something like Odyssey.

[Vancity Cruiser]

23 hours ago, steverk said:

I just got off Radiance and thought she looked good. However,  one elevator was out of commission.

Good to hear! We were on her first cruise back and she was in terrible condition. Balcony door handle came off in my hand when I tried to open it. Our Cabin steward put down a towel as a bath mat each day due to several missing tiles in our bathroom. Curtains were frayed. There were several (at least 7) broken window panes in this ship that has a lot of glass viewing areas. None of the hot tubs had working jets. The ceiling in the main dining room had several water spots and peeling paint. She was in rough shape but the crew was working hard to get her spruced up.

[CruisingNewb]

On the Ovation right now. Ship is in tip top shape and clean. I will do a full report when I can.

if I nitpick, yeah I can find tons of things to fix, maintain, or clean. I was a executive chef for years and I have an eye for this stuff. But even so, if the scale is 1 through 5, ship is 5. On a scale of 1 through 100, I can give it 95.

[JC Pats]

Every ship is going to have issues, metal rusts so there is constant upkeep with the structure. Carpets/Railings & floors in general take a beating from constant use. That being said, I have never experienced a royal ship where it was extremely run down/bad shape. The crew do an amazing job with daily cleaning and routine upkeep. 

[Jill]

We were on Symphony in October. She still looked great (really only had about 1 1/2 years in service before Covid). Next was Wonder in March. Obviously had new ship smell . Was supposed to sail Radiance 2 weeks ago but got cold feet about possibly testing positive in Vancouver and being stuck in Canada. We moved that cruise to Harmony. I thought Harmony looked great. 

Next up is Odyssey in October. I expect her to still be looking good. (We will get our first block on that sailing! That is if Odyssey blocks are available yet) 

We have Wonder again next March. 

Then setting our sights on Icon. 

The only “oldie” on our radar is probably Jewel in 2024 Norwegian Fjords 

[Moby Dick]

11 hours ago, CruisingNewb said:

On the Ovation right now. Ship is in tip top shape and clean. I will do a full report when I can.

if I nitpick, yeah I can find tons of things to fix, maintain, or clean. I was a executive chef for years and I have an eye for this stuff. But even so, if the scale is 1 through 5, ship is 5. On a scale of 1 through 100, I can give it 95.

When I was on the ovation, the week of May 13th, I couldn't get over how often the stewards would wash-down the walls and handrails in the hallways.  I'm sure it is an anti-viral thing.  It was very reassuring that they were doing a lot to keep everybody as germ free as possible.  The only draw back, whatever the type of soap/chemical they were using on the hallway handrails seemed to build up on the bottom side and create a slimy goo that got on your hands and couldn't get off until you got to the next restroom to wash it off.  Not a complaint, I appreciate all they do, just a fact.

[GatorCruiser]

Crew has been excellent on our navigator cruise. Ship looks great. Has been an awesome cruise