This was a special cruise to Maine and Canada, 9 days total, instead of the usual 7 day cruise. We choose it because of the longer length, but also because we can drive to the port of Boston in about 45 minutes. We enjoy driving to Maine, the idea of cruising sounded very appealing. My husband and I are in our 60’s, and we were among the youngest people on this cruise.

We arrived at the Black Falcon pier an hour later than usual, we got an e-mail stating that boarding would be later because their was an inspection of the ship scheduled. We tried to arrive after boarding had begun, still we found a long line when we arrived. It moved but we have never encountered a long line here before. Still we were on the ship in less than an hour. Platinum status helped to put us into a very short line to check in.

We dropped our carry on luggage in our cabin, and headed to the Windjammer for lunch. There was a huge crowd mostly just sitting, and not a seat to be had. We wandered around till finally someone decided to leave a table. The older crowd seemed to eat their lunch and then just sit there waiting for the cabins to be open. Many still had luggage with them, it was quite a scene. The cabins opened soon after, and after unpacking and a typical muster, we were looking forward to a nice dinner. We made reservations for the first night of MTD by calling Royal Caribbean weeks before the trip. The website was’t working as usual. We were scheduled for 5:45, we wanted later but was told those times were full. This usually means a short wait, passing those who did not make reservations. What we encountered was a huge line and complete chaos in the dining room, and a very stressed crew. It seems that that Royal Caribbean had accepted far too many reservations for the early time putting the ship into a terrible situation, and many of those without reservations showed up early besides. At dinner we were again wondering had we made a mistake. We headed to the show, and had to sit separately the huge crowd from dinner was now at the show. This was turning into an ordeal, much different from other cruises. Read more