Every two years, we book a family cruise and look forward to a week of relaxation. Of the five cruises taken to date, this was the worst. From the moment we stepped onboard the ship, it was constant selling of products and services. I thought I had maybe accidentally booked a QVC cruise. From the first moment we entered the Promenade, we had to walk a gauntlet of sales teams selling alcohol packages and spa services and dining. Every time we turned on the TV, the message box was full of more sales for spa services, losing weight, teeth whitening and more. Trying to sit at a nice Pub on the Promenade, you were distracted by hordes of people fighting over purse sales, jewelry sales and t-shirt sales. At times it seemed they were a bunch of pigeons fighting over a french-fry in the parking lot of McDonalds.

We never received an invitation to the past cruisers party; maybe I missed it in my TV message box among all the Spa sales messages.

Leaving the ship was an absolute nightmare. The line stretched from customs all the way back to the ship. We stood in line for an hour and when we finally made it to the luggage area, there were no signs directing people. We did not need to pickup bags as we signed up for the luggage program and when we asked for directions, we got different answers from different cruise staff. We were also traveling with an elderly person with disabilities and again, there were no signs directing people who need assistance. Read more