This 16 night itinerary had 2 ports which should be discontinued (Airlie beach, Port Hedland) - port headland iron ore tour was a very poor standard (1 1/4 hours of boring babble in a bus ) . Ship had large disabled contingent (scooters,wheelchairs,walkers,walking sticks) which increases the chance of catching norovirus/flu/viruses as well as slowing down the movement around the ship considerably. Tenders were also slowed down as a result. Also noticed a lot of tattooed persons onboard. Smoking was allowed on balconies which if known about we would not have booked cruise with RCL (smoke wafted in from other balconies and was intolerable).

The main dining room meals were too fancy generally and didn't seem to cater for australian climate . RCL need to simplify dish offerings and focus on high quality meal basics. Drinks packages are poor especially for non-alcoholic (celebrity have far superior drinks packages) . No coffee packages or cards available either. Brewed coffee is undrinkable so it is off to Latte-Tudes at $5 a pop for a coffee with any strength. The buffet (WINDJAMMERS) closes at 9.30 pm which is very unusual as most ships offer some late night buffet. The park cafe makes a weak attempt at late night snacks with a minimal pizza ingredient offering. Production shows seem weak and 1 show especially had dancers out of synch and the vocals were hard to understand. RCL need to reference Princess production show standards. The headliner acts were mixed (some awful and others very good). Staff doing tired old 'if I were not upon the sea' routine and not very well either. Need more enrichment lectures and less infantile activities- they seem to cater to low intellect groups (belly flopping ?). Also a late night act is needed e.g. comedian

in addition to the main theatre show. Princess do this very well with an alternative show venue. The captain was very good and informative throughout the cruise and had a good sense of humour. Officers and most staff were also friendly. BOBBY the cruise director arrived on board late (darwin) and was a very good MC. Overall sense of RCL budget cut backs : (no lobster night,no toiletries (balcony or lower), no pen and pad in cabin , no pillow chocolates , pool towels have to be signed out and in ) . It looks like back to CELEBRITY and PRINCESS cruises.