We have cruised with Royal Caribbean at least 10 times in the past and never in my wildest nightmares did I imagine that I would see the side of Royal Caribbean that I saw on this recent trip. I'm sure that over the past 15 years my family has spent well over six figures on this cruise line alone; we achieved the revered status of "Diamond" members. RCI can check this in their records. Yet none of this seemed to matter last week after we boarded the ship, the Brilliance of the Seas. It was as if you've had an old loyal friend for years and you suddenly find out that he is robbing you of your life's savings along with your dignity and your humanity. Move over Bernie Madoff!

My daughter and I planned a Caribbean cruise many months ago as a special mother and daughter excursion, and we were extremely excited about it. All was in order for our embarkation on January 5th.

Unfortunately, my daughter contracted food poisoning the Thursday prior to the Saturday of the cruise and had some gastrointestinal problems until Friday afternoon; however, this seemed to be a minor inconvenience, as she felt better by Friday evening. We boarded the plane to San Juan Saturday morning with no qualms about the week ahead. When asked to fill out the "24 hour symptoms" form, since her illness had been more than 24 hours prior to the start of the cruise, we were able to truthfully answer "no". We boarded the ship, had lunch in the Windjammer, and attended the muster drill. After that my daughter felt a little warm, so she opted to go to the medical facility to see if she indeed had a fever and if they could give her something for it. Never in my wildest nightmares would I have anticipated the series of events that then transpired. Read more