We think Renaissance cabins offer exceptional value even though cabins don't seem that important today on one-class ships. After all everyone on board gets there at the same time, and you spend most of waking hours in public spaces or ashore. We do enjoy copious storage; mirrors to enlarge the space, a comfortable bathroom and sliding doors to a balcony complete obviated my usual claustrophobia.
What don't we like aside, from one or two tours that seemed a bit pricey, and the dubious joys of Rome on Palm Sunday? The on-board cyber cafe, a franchise operation, was unable to connect to our web sites – cafes on shore did. Then the café lost three of six computers the first week of the cruise due to a lack of surge protectors, software backups and it seems, expertise. At a dollar a minute or for the cyber orphan, $3.95 a message this seemed overpriced even if the system worked. We opted for the $99 all-inclusive fee but the system never did perform properly. Fortunately most ports offer cyber cafes near the piers. We were able to check messages at three to ten times as fast as shipboard speeds for a mere $3 to $5 every couple of days.
In our case, and especially for European cruises where you often get smoked out on shore, Renaissance's no smoking rules worked nicely. So did their ban on children and, of course, the lack of a premium fee for the two reservations-only restaurants. Tempus Fugit! With, one supposes, an eye on the European market a 2% of the ship is now open to smokers one side of the pool and one side of the Club Restaurant -- and kids over two years old are allowed. This hope this will not change the adult, multi-cruise smoke free ambiance much. ALL ASHORE
Ships are, of course, both an experience in themselves and a bridge to new shore experiences each day. Some shore excursions that run to drive bys of attractions serious travelers would enter and seem rather pricey. So consider excursions the "no problems" sample that avoids local language problems, dealing with subways and buses, researching destinations before the trip or handling pickpockets and Fagin taxi drivers. Confident travelers with skills to wheel and deal with taxi types, handle local buses or trains and read maps can do quite nicely on their own in most cases. Just don't try to schedule too much and arrive back early. In most ports there's something interesting within a short distance of ships.
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