RCCL, and I assume all the cruise lines, are on the 'Cheap' these days. No more mints on the pillow, no lotion in the rooms, no newspapers delivered or in the library, dining room meals with tough meat and cold food, etc. This cruise was modestly priced, so I guess you get what you pay for - just not up to expectations. We usually cruise on Princess and HAL, but had been on a RCCL cruise before so had somewhat higher expectations based on that experience.

The Good Things - beautiful ship; interactive Cruise Director; Windjammer - consistent excellent food and arrangement was excellent (never lines to get food and good seating available); variety of entertainment in the Showroom with good seating, but a lot of obstructed seats; disembarkation times at ports was good; back stage tour was good and informative; level of activities (i.e. trivia); good storage and luggage space in the cabin.

The "Not So Good' Things - (1) small space for a balcony cabin; (2) FOX news on the TV was very annoying - if you're going to have that, at least have MSNBC to counter-balance - CNN International doesn't count. Got tired of answering questions from Canadians and other international passengers about FOX TV and if that was what Americans thought; (3) the library was a joke - first thing onboard, counted 49 fiction books; (4) limited seating in the Colony Club (i.e. reception events) and Centrum dance venues - the only good onboard musicians played in the Centrum where there was basically no seating and limited dance area; (5) onboard musical venues were poor to mediocre, with the exception of Muzik Magic; (6) Wine and drink prices were very high; (7) port tours were mediocre at best, though they were modestly priced; (8) food in the dining room was mediocre and usually cold - meat was often tough and small portions - and service was slow; (9) disembarkation was horrible with 3 cruise ships in port and limited access by taxis - many people missed flights home; etc. etc. etc. Read more