I write this as a Pinnacle RCI member with over 90 RCI cruises and thus will be comparing this trip with my other RCI experiences.

First - upon arrival at the Galveston cruise terminal there were hundreds of people lined up both inside and outside in the searing heat and humidity and nothing was happening. After 30 min a Security Guard told some of us that RCI had a complete crash of their boarding web system and so no one could be processed until the problem was resolved. After about an hour apparently a fix was in place and processing started again. The backup was so severe that the ship was delayed in departing. Hundreds sweltered in the heat, no effort was made to assist pax in any way, no information was provided, and to my knowledge not a word of explanation or apology was made at any time during the cruise at least not that I either read or heard. Not acceptable - but is in accord with the usual Cruise Company policy on most lines to NEVER tell pax anything.

Ship was badly overcrowded - almost 3900 pax on a ship whose double occupancy is less than 3500, which means that every temporary pull out/pull down bed was in use. This included over 900 children between 7 and 17. In Grand Cayman it took over three hours to get pax ashore. The Dining room was so overcrowded that waiters could hardly squeeze between tables, and even the Captains Table was used for regular dining. Read more