This was our first cruise with Royal Caribbean and it provided good value, but there were many little things that could have been better with little cost to the line or effort by the staff. I reserved the cruise, my air and transfers with RCI by phone 10 days before the cruise. Things got done, but not exactly as described: 1) I had no transfer in Barcelona because I travelled 1 day before- I think I paid for it anyway. Air deviation was $75. not the $50. I was told by reservationist, who also didn't know the Air Dept.is not open weekends. (when I made my cabin reservation). Our cabin with balcony was on deck 6 forward in a quiet, handy location for the promenade, library and theater, but a bit far from the Windjammer Cafe and the pools. The cabin refurbishment was excellent- great beds, linens, new paint, etc. Simeon was an excellent cabin attendant- fun towel animals, and almost always done tidying up before we came back. This was the first time my husband and I had early seating at dinner, at 6PM (which was 30 min. earlier than Miami office told me) and we wouldn't do it again. It left you scrambling to get to dinner and then with 1 hour to kill before the evening show, usually at 9PM. Drinks in the lounges were expensive, except Happy Hour 5-7PM or $4.25 drink of the day. As noted by another review, finding a glass or cup of tea was hard, unless you took one back to your room from lunch. $3.95 seemed high for a milkshake, too. Why not a milkshake or ice cream hour at Ben 'n Jerry's or a champagne hour in the lovely Champagne Bar?

Food in general was well-displayed , made of excellent ingredients, but seldom impressive. Personally I found most entrees a bit plain and in need of sauces, even if on the side. I only saw lobster in a few soups and salads, never as an entree in 11 nights. We were at sea on Thanksgiving, and saw little attempt to celebrate by the ship, except for a few paper banners and turkey at dinner. Waiters lacked personality and exhibited little showmanship as we'd seen on HAL or NCL. We missed the Gala Buffet because it was almost a secret- no mention of it on the PA system, or by the waiters at dinner, or any signs on the Promenade. Only a small mention in the daily planner under the food schedule. The Explorations and Guest Relations staff were always helpful and seldom overwhelmed with long lines. One really helpful feature that the ship's photo and name index had was the ability to look up people by their first name and picture, even if you didn't remember a last name or cabin number. I got to 2 of the 4 Cruise Critic events- the cabin tour with wine and cheese, and the Bridge Tour. Both were fun and friendly. This sailing had a nice mix of Americans , English and Europeans, many of whom were fluent in English. I enjoyed meeting 2 Barcelona residents, a Swiss banker, a retired English sea captain, an American submariner, and English retirees. The crew was amazingly international- including a Nepalese security officer! Captain Gerry Larsson was memorable for his youth, personality (playing guitar and singing in the Pub twice), and professionalism.

I would probably sail again on RCI, if the price and sailing date fit my plans, but I did not come away from this cruise with any special allegiance to RCI, or even strong personal memories of a waiter, bartender or other staff member. (As I still have of HAL and NCL employees from 5-10 years ago.) The ship should provide at least 1 map/guide to the ship per cabin, even including what food/drink is available at various locations-like which selections of wines and beers by the glass, that herbal teas were in the spa, etc. The floral shop was hidden away with short hours, and limited items. With such a multicultural ship's staff, there should have been more bilingual presentations than 1 cooking class in German! A showing of the movie, or Spanish language trivia could have been done.