Having read some pretty poor reviews of this cruise we were not sure what to expect. This was our 6th cruise with Royal Caribbean but it seemed like the sailings from Malaga had created problems we hadn't encountered before. There were probably 2/3rds of the ship who were Spanish, with a mix of other nationalities onboard - many British and Irish, a sprinkling of other nationalities and very few Americans.

To start with the negatives: The ship was certainly overcrowded. The sailings were selling very cheaply in Spain, the Spanish (particularly in the summer) travel in large family groups and many of the cabins which would normally have 2 people were filled with 4 so that the ship did feel jam-packed at times. This was most evident in the Windjammer when it was often very difficult and sometimes impossible to get a table - particularly on sea days. In fact they actually closed it on a couple of occasions because it was completely full. On embarkation day and on the two sea days they even opened the MDR with a Windjammer style buffet to deal with the large crowds. We heard from the chef that this route has caused a particular problem as they calculate that the usual time spent in the Windjammer is 40 mins, whereas the Spanish family groups would sit there for hours using tables which would normally be freed up. This was a 'problem' we easily dealt with - eat early, as the Spanish eat late or grab a plate and take it on deck or back to your cabin. Alternatively, ask a member of staff to find a table for you, they will always oblige.

The other complaints I previously read about concerned rudeness and uncontrollable kids. I can honestly say I encountered no more rudeness than I would anywhere else where there were large numbers of people (of any nationality). There were plenty of kids onboard but, aside from the occasional running up and down, nothing untoward. We didn't notice babies in diapers in the pools or kids in the Solarium (also previous complaints), so maybe RCI had done something about that. The pools were very crowded later in the day, but a plus side of this cruise is that because the Spanish eat late and party late there were plenty of beds on deck, even at 11 am on a sea day. I also read complaints about smoking but, apart from the places where it was allowed, never encountered excess smoke. In fact the ship had introduced even more restrictions during the week before we sailed. Read more