I don’t think that the embarkation issues were sufficient to give this whole cruise a 1 out of 5. However, there is no doubt that the embarkation procedure in Singapore was abysmal: no staff taking responsibility and some passengers taking 6 hours standing in line to board the ship. Having people board the escalators to the mezzanine level to have them fall over people at the top due to overcrowding was a mistake that would have been avoided by a competent cruise line. We were transit passengers who escaped much of the mayhem but, on reboarding the ship, we had to have our photos taken again (delaying other passengers unnecessarily) for our Seapass, even though we had just disembarked the ship that morning (memo to RCL: HAL last year still retained our photo from a voyage 12 months previous – it isn’t that hard).

Some wag put a note on the messages noticeboard a few days later which said “Today I saw pirates trying to board the ship. I told them it would take at least 4 hours, so they went away.”!

Our cabin was 8559 overlooking the Royal Promenade. The window has double glazing, so noise was not a problem, and the curtains were thick. The bathroom shower was one of the best we have experienced, with sliding shower doors instead of the usual dreadful sticky curtain. The room was a good position above and opposite the Café Promenade and in an ideal position to view the start of the Dreamworks parade. Do not, under any circumstances, accept a Promenade view room above the Pig & Whistle pub if you have trouble sleeping. Read more