This was our 6th Caribbean cruise...our 4th on RC. We were excited as this was a newer itinerary, going to several islands we'd never gone to before. Our excitement soon changed to dismay.

Embarkation was simple enough. We flew on a red-eye to Santo Domingo and got a taxi to the pier. Since we were in a Grand Suite, we were able to bypass the huge line for check-in. We got up to our cabin, dumped our stuff and headed to the Windjammer for some lunch. At that point is when we started noticing some not-so-nice things.

First, the service. As one of our tablemates noticed, it seemed as if the crew lacked energy. They were simply doing their jobs...no smiles, no going the extra effort, which is what we expected from previous cruises. In the dining room, our waitress was hardly ever around...the assistant waiter performed many of her duties. We never really got to know either one of them as we had on all our previous cruises. Our suite attendant was nice enough, but where were the animals?! :-) We got 2 animals the entire cruise. Second, the rather large influx of Dominicans on the ship. I expected there to be several Dominicans, but I'm guessing the ship was half-filled (or more) with them. Unfortunately, we found their behavior to be somewhat rude and obnoxious. The crew also seemed to cater to them as well. For instance, I went to the poolside bar for a drink. The bartender was taking care of someone, so I waited my turn. In the meantime, a couple of Dominicans came to the bar and the bartender took them in ahead of me. Not cool. Read more