This 18 day cruise gave us an opportunity to get to know the RCI crew over multiple interactions. It wasn't one single issue, but rather the culture and attitude towards customer service -- reinforced several times -- that leads me to avoid RCI for any future cruise unless there is evidence of a turnaround in customer service practices.

I'll summarize RCI's customer service as being theater -- that is, they put on a good show that they care, but it's just a facade. Guest Relations Officers (the "front desk" staff) repeatedly promised they would address problems -- from issues with bus service in port at Auckland, to a broken shower, to scheduling a babysitter, to food safety at Windjammer and Boardwalk Dog House, to children's programs during the Norovirus outbreak. In *every* instance, these promises were broken. Sometimes multiple times. Only through repeated requests and nagging followup did I get any resolution on problems.

As one example, I asked Guest Relations to look into the fact that hot food (hot dogs, pizza, sausage, oatmeal) was being served cold at Boardwalk and in Windjammer. At Boardwalk, the attendant literally had to touch each lukewarm hot dog on the line to find the warmest one to serve. I was promised action by Guest Relations and a call back later the same day. Two days later, having heard nothing I asked again. Ultimately I asked the line cooks in BW/WJ to perform spot-readings of the food. One cook came up with a reading of 83 degrees -- far below the recommended holding temperature for warm food. In followup, I met with the Executive Chef, Executive Sous Chef, and director of Windjammer to discuss. They agreed that the food at the Boardwalk Dog House was being held at too low of a temperature. It doesn't help that wind swirls around that area from the doors and windows being open. They also believed that the line cook didn't know how to properly read the food temperature. Read more