Before we left port my husband checked the toilet. Not working. He told the attendant. We left port with over half the toilets on the ship inoperative. First they said there were a few, then the whole port side, then the port side and some starboard. They had one toilet in an unoccupied room that everyone on our floor had to use. There were lines, often the prior person inadvertently locked the door on the way out. They were supposed to post an attendant but did not. The toilets were out for 3 days, and then ours worked intermittently and we were instructed not to use much paper. Later when we complained and tried to get a refund from Azamara they told us the toilets were out for only one day, which was a lie, and that we were the only ones that complained, which was also a lie. Next, traveling through the Gulf of Mexico the waves were up to 25 foot. So they left port with inoperative toilets into bad weather and they knew it. Everyone was sick. The boat is small and old, and basically a bathtub. Every wave was felt. And, it could only travel about 17 knots, which is about 20 miles an hour. So we went through 10-25 foot waves through the Gulf at 20 mph with no toilet in our room. The pool, such as it was (another bathtub) was drained due to it being so rough the water was splashing everywhere and making the deck slippery.

The food was fair. There were certain drinks that were included, although at first they only had Budweiser beer. We had to wait two days for Becks's beer. They were out. Those were the only two beer choices.

By the time we got to Aruba I was really seasick. The captain had been announcing overhead that injections were available in the clinic for a fee. We were walking out to our shore excursions and walking by the clinic when I told my husband let me stop in and see about the seasickness. I am a PHYSICIAN myself. I went in and introduced myself and said I had been ill, and because I said I had some diarrhea the nurse said I couldn't leave. I had to see the doctor. The doctor came out and said you may be the first case of norovirus, I have to quarantine you to your room. I said I am seasick, I've had my gallbladder out and this is normal for me under stress and this rich food. The CDC is very clear on this. He never examined me. He never took a history. He said if we got off the boat in Aruba they would not let us back on. I said what are my options here. He said you can disembark. We went back to our room where we were supposed to stay with intermittently working toilets and diarrhea and oh yea don't use too much paper. Vomiting is also a sign of norovirus and they did not quarantine people for vomiting, they sold them injections. The whole thing was unbelievable. My husband is a retired Delta captain and I am a physician. An aircraft will not leave the ground with inoperative toilets, and that's only for a few hours, not for a 12 day journey. Read more