Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean International (RCI), formally known as the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line but perhaps best known simply as Royal Caribbean to most cruisers is one of the biggest cruise lines in the world in every sense of the word. They have one of the biggest fleets, biggest variety of homeports, biggest private islands and biggest ships in the world.

They have revolutionised the resort style of cruising that see’s their modern megaships segmented up and having the feel of been in a holiday resort or Spanish costa.

If you are travelling as a family, they could be the ideal line for you as they offer one of the widest ranges of activities, attractions and entertainment of any line and have a laid back atmosphere onboard but just where do the line excel, where do they come up short and where are they somewhere in the middle?

In this rating and review of the Royal Caribbean International, I look to answer all of that and take you through all that you need to know about the line based on my own experience of cruising with them and the research I have done before and after that.

Royal Caribbean are known for their large ships that offer an all-action experience and that is certainty the focus of their advertising. If you like to be busy whilst on holiday, you can do but what I found when sailing with them is that there are plenty of places to sit, relax and even get some peace and quiet.

They have lots of attractions that you don’t get on most other lines, including a surf simulator, a climbing wall and a ice rink but even the sort of things that other large ships offer, such as water parks and entertainment venues are done incredibly well.

When I sailed with the line, they had an extensive activities programme and all of the staff we met around the ship were friendly and professional and we even had one of the best cruise directors- Crusin Susan.

The line offers a resort style of cruising, so if you like visiting the Costas of Spain, you will love their ships as you have multiple bars, restaurants, cafes and more to choose from.

The style of Royal Caribbean can be best described as family resort, which is relaxed during the day and family friendly on an evening.

The line love to have theme nights where you can dress up in different outfits to match the themes, with things like Caribbean night also having themed food in the restaurants and music around the ship.

Their ships are all about having fun and enjoying yourself and offer constant activities to be able to do that throughout the day and night and offer some attractions that can only be enjoyed on their ships.

Their mega ships have a resort style to them including separate areas such as a boardwalk, a park and an entertainment area allowing you to be as active or relaxed as you want to be but even their smaller and older ships have a good blend to them.

The simple answer to this is that there is lots included in your cruise fare although it does depend on what class of ship you are sailing on, with the larger resort ships having both more included and more pay extra options.

As is almost always the case no matter what cruise line you are sailing with, there are two main options when it comes to included food options, the Main Dining Room (MDR) and the buffet, known as the Windjammer on RCI ships.

There are included drinks in those places including basic tea and coffee as well as soft drinks.

Most ships will also have somewhere to get included ice cream, a coffee shop with included basic tea and coffee as well as food around the clock.

There will also be a range of include food outlets around your ship offering basics such as hotdogs, pizza and burgers but other options include things such as pies, noodle dishes, pancakes and even fish and ships.

There is lots of entertainment offered around each ship including musical acts in bars and lounges, activities throughout the day and night and acts in the theatre.

You also get access to major productions type shows including West End (or Broadway) musicals, ice dancing shows and high diving shows on their larger ships.

The line has a great activities staff that keep you occupied throughout your getaway with lots of quizzes, game shows, games, lectures, learning opportunities, discos, and more.

They are known for their street party’s that take place on the promenades of larger ships.

If you want to stay active whilst on holiday, most ships have an included surf simulator, mini golf, a rock-climbing wall, table tennis, a sports court offering football, basketball and pickleball.

p>Most ships offer large swimming pool complexes including separate splash zone areas for younger kids and there are often flumes available to the young and young at heart.

You can also take advantage of huge modern gyms and some basic aspects of the spa You can also take advantage of huge modern gyms and some basic aspects of the spa and if you are travelling as a family, there are a number of kids clubs allowing for the youngest members of your family right through to teens to enjoy some time on their own, doing their own thing and making new friends.

If you have cruised before on pretty much any line, you will know that there are always extra costs involved in your cruise and to be fair to Royal Caribbean most of the added costs are for added benefits and you can easily enjoy your cruise for just the cost of your base fare and tips.

Some treatments in the spa cost extra as do some classes in the gym and there are some activities onboard that cost extra such as wine tasting.

As usual, things such as alcoholic drinks, specialty dining, specialty coffees, sodas and milkshakes all cost extra and there are some upcharges in the MDR for things such as streak and lobster.

Some of the attractions onboard cost extra including the escape room and if you want to have surf lessons.

There are always lots of little extras that you can pay for around the ships including cabanas and the key.

At different ports, their can be some extra costs depending on where you dock with some destinations needing paid shuttle to reach for your ship whilst if you want to go out on an excursions through the ship, it too will cost extra.

This is really an area where the line excels a if there is a type of entertainment you like to watch whilst on a cruise holiday, the chances are that you will get to experience it whist sailing with RCI.

If theatre shows are your thing, you will likely get both productions shows form the ships cast as well as a West End or Broadway show.

There is a decent variety to it all as well with a mix of dance shows, music/singing based shows and ones that are a mix of both.

You will also get the chance to see a range of other acts, from singers to magicians and from comedians to lecturers and on many ships, you can also watch an ice dancing show.

On their larger ships, you also get a diving show, which is something many will probably think you would never get at sea!

As well as all of that, most ships will have a Royal Promenade, or an international street full of bars, cafes and shops that also hosts lots of entertainment including singers and street parties.

Most ships will also have at least one entertainment venue, such as a lounge, that has musicians, games, and activities hosted in it whilst most bars around the ship will have some form of entertainment offered including singers and musicians.

The food and drink onboard is mostly American cuisine including lots of family favourites such as burgers, hot dogs and pizza but there is much more to the lines offering than that.

For my sailing with them, which was out of the UK, there was plenty of British favourites in the Main Dining Room and the Windjammer buffet and some things such as pies were added to the Sorrento’s pizza shop- which is included in your cruise fare.

On the Indy, there was also a pool side Fish and Chip shop, which was included in your cruise fare, but most ships will have a grill offering burgers, hot dogs and more.

Most ships have a café onboard offering sandwiches, cake and other snacks including in the cost and there are plenty of places around the ship to get free tea, coffee, hot chocolate, fruit juices and water.

On top of all of that, there are plenty of paly extra things including speciality tea and coffees, alcoholic drinks, sodas, speciality dining, gelato and upgrades in the MDR including lobster and steaks.

You will be able to choose from a variety of bars and lounges to have a drink in including sports bars, a traditional British pub, wine bars and more entertainment-based bars and lounges.

With that said, nobody could have any complaints with the variety of places to eat and drink whilst onboard a Royal Caribbean ship and their use of theme nights, such as the Caribbean night, really helps to shake things up, especially on longer sailings.

Although the food offered wasn’t quite at the level of some premium lines I have sailed on, it really wasn’t that far behind and it was better than some similar level mass-market lines, such as NCL, so if food and drink is a big part of cruising for you, you should have no concerns when sailing with RCI.

I have only stayed in an inside cabin with the line, so my thoughts are based on that, but that is my usual type of stateroom so I can compare to others inside cabins I have stayed in and its holds up well.

The room was a good size with a large bed, it had plenty of storage, a decent sized tv, the all-important glass shower door and plenty of hanging space for your clothes.

The biggest issue that I had, and that seems to be a theme with the line, was a limited amount of plug sockets and the complete lack of USB charging ports- it’s such as easy thing to add and I cannot understand why the line refuses to do it.

RCI have one of the widest route networks out all of the major lines, but they do have a heavy focus on sailings to the Caribbean from across North America and the Mediterranean, both eastern and western Med ports.

In terms of turnaround ports, they have a few that are their main bases including Orlando (Cape Canaveral), Fort Lauderdale and Miami in the US and Rome (Civitavecchia) and Barcelona in the Med.

They do operate far and wide from there however with the likes of Central America, Australasia, Alaska, the Pacific Islands, Asia, Northern Europe, Africa, the Norwegian Fjords all well covered by ships.

Outside of their key areas, the likes of Sydney, Singapore, Brisbane, Shanghai, Tokyo, Cape Town and Southampton are all key home ports.

Royal Caribbean Cruises From Southampton

If you want to sail with Royal Caribbean from the UK, the great news is not only can you but there are quite a few different destinations you can visit.

All sailings will depart from the UK’s leading cruise port of Southampton, with destinations across Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Canaries and the Norwegian Fjords on offer as well as mini cruises hopping across the channel.

It is also possible to take a trans-Atlantic reposition cruise at the end of the season hopping across the Florida and visiting the Caribbean.

The ships of Royal Caribbean can be split into a number of classes of size and style including smaller and older ships with a more traditional feel to larger and modern ships with a resort style of cruising to them.

Smaller Ships

These are the ships smaller ships which have been the mainstay of the line for much of this century and continue to be amongst the most popular for long term cruisers.

Vision Class:- Grandeur of the Seas (built 1996), Enchantment of the Seas (built 1997), Rhapsody of the Seas (built 1997), Vision of the Seas (built 1998)
Voyager Class:- Voyager of the Seas (built 1999), Explorer of the Seas (built 2000), Adventure of the Seas (built 2001), Navigator of the Seas (built 2002), Mariner of the Seas (built 2003)
Radiance Class:- Radiance of the Seas (built 2001), Brilliance of the Seas (built 2002), Serenade of the Seas (built 2003), Jewel of the Seas (built 2004)

Larger Ships

These are larger cruise ships that are some of the more moderner ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet that also offer the widest range of facilities for cruisers to enjoy.

Freedom Class:- Freedom of the Seas (built 2006), Liberty of the Seas (built 2007), Independence of the Seas (built 2008)
Quantum Class:- Quantum of the Seas (built 2014), Anthem of the Seas (built 2015), Ovation of the Seas (built 2016), Spectrum of the Seas (built 2019), Odyssey of the Seas (built 2021)

Mega Ships

These are record breaking ships that have each been the largest ship in the world from launch and became the first true resort style of ships with a city at sea feel.

Oasis Class:- Oasis of the Seas (built 2009), Allure of the Seas (built 2010), Harmony of the Seas (built 2016), Symphony of the Seas (built 2018), Wonder of the Seas (built 2022), Utopia of the Seas (built 2024)
Icon Class:- Icon of the Seas (built 2023), Star of the Seas (built 2025), Legend of the Seas (built 2026)

Royal Caribbean are a mass-market line, so they try to aim to as many people as they can and to be fair to them, they do a great job of just that.

For my sailing with them, there was a mix of pretty much all ages and many different nationalities and whilst I am often one of the younger cruises when sailing with some lines, I was probably on the older end for this one.

There were lots of families, including kids, parents and grandparents all sailing together on my voyage with them but that was probably more down to it been during the school holidays in Scotland.

I was sailing with my wife, and it was a great line for couples as despite the ship been sold out, there were still plenty of places to get some more relaxed time together and with 100’s of kids onboard, they had their areas, and we had ours.

For some people there will be just too much onboard and with it all been paid for by your cruise fare no matter if you use it or not, it may not be the lien for you if you prefer to just sit relaxing on your balcony but in the main, I would say it is a line for just about everybody.

Thankfully, I had few issues with the line but there were a couple of things to be wary of if you choose to sail with them.

Firstly, you will be bombarded with email after email promoting a new sail and great offers on everything from drink packages to excursion and spa treatments to the key but despite that, the price never changed, and it even went up sometimes despite the new offer.

It’s incredibly frustrating and surly breaks UK law and sadly it will be in experienced cruisers and/or the elderly who will be taken in by it the most.

The second issue was the limited amount of plug sockets and the complete lack of USB charging ports in the cabin, which h as already mentioned seems to be a fleetwide issue and something that is simply and cheap to solve.

The Royal Caribbean cruise line was founded back in 1968 as a joint venture by three Norwegian shipping companies: Anders Wilhelmsen & Company, Gotaas Larsen and I.M. Skaugen & Company.

The newly formed line put their first ship, the Song of Norway, into service a couple of years later and she was joined by the Nordic Prince around 12 months after that.

Further expansion occurred in 1972 with the addition of their Sun Viking and in 1978, the Song of Norway became the lines first ship to be lengthened.

In 1986, Royal Caribbean launched their first land based private destination for guests with eh leasing of land in Labadie on Haiti and renamed it Labadee.

In 1988, the line launched their first modern style cruise ship by welcoming the Sovereign of the Seas and after a restructure of the company, their merged with the Admiral Cruises line.

This would see the company expand quickly with new ship purchases and the launch of their first private island when they bought Great Stirrup Cay, an island in the Bahamas which is now known as CocoCay.

The 1990’s saw the lien continue to grow helped by joining the New York Stock Exchange in 1993 and its merger with Celebrity Cruises, then a Greek based line.

This saw the line change from the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line to Royal Caribbean International and the formation of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd to oversee both lines, which is now known as the Royal Caribbean Group.

At the start of the new Millennium, the line established land and sea tours in Alaska that allowed to add on train journey and hotel stays in Alaska and Canada before or after your Alaskan cruise getaway.

That was soon extended to European destinations and by the end of the decade, RCI launched their new resort style mega ship with the Oasis of the Seas taking on fee paying passengers in 2009 to welcome in the Oasis class era of record-breaking ships.

In 2023, the line launched the Icon of the Seas to launch a whole new class of ships that would not only become the biggest in the world, but they would also be the first LNG powered ships in the fleet.

Royal Caribbean International Review

As you will likely have gathered from this review, my overall thoughts on Royal Caribbean are very positive.

They have quickly become one of my favourite lines and will be one that I look out for in the future although they tend to stick to more ‘basic’ itineraries and their starting cost can be quite high.

If I get a good deal on an itinerary, I like the look at, I would have no concerns with booking with RCI once again and that is the best thing I can say about them.

If you are thinking of trying them, do it!

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If you are looking for Royal Caribbean reviews, you are in the right place, as we bring you our honest review of Royal Caribbean.