I have just gotten off the Explorer of the Seas after coming home two days early due to illness on the ship. This was my first time trying Royal as I have heard great things about it since I have always cruised on NCL. As it was broadcasted all over the news the trip was very disappointing to say the least. The first day at sea people were already getting sick but when you stick 3000 people in a ship where you can't go outside and no fresh air its a recipe for disaster. People were sick all over the ship and even though some were told to stay in the cabins they were out getting food where everyone else was. Royal did not know how to handle such large numbers of people getting sick and they should have announced for all passengers that were sick to stay in their rooms and go down to the medical unit when it was their turn.

As the days went by things went from bad to worse I got sick on the 24th and stayed in the cabin as there was a 3 1/2 hour wait to be seen. Royal then closed everything down - the spa, gym, arcade, Johnny Rockets but go figure the casino stayed open!! I am very disappointed and feel very let down by the trip and then felt Royal started to nickel and dime us towards the end by first saying we will give each stateroom $400.00 credit put on your account which they did, the next day after hearing very disgruntled passengers all day long they revised it to 50% off your cruise and 50% percent off future with addition to the $400 credit, then today claimed the $400 was part of the discount. I am grateful for what they are doing I just wish they had responded much faster and made sure the sick were sequestered properly. As an RN I thought it should have been done differently.

Not sure if I will try them again and feel very let down. On a positive note the last night's dinner was fabulous and the staff were outstanding. But hearing how they were going out of their way to make sure the next group of passengers were being told not to worry because they were taking extra measures to make sure their trip would be ok was kind of like a kick to the ribs because we were all still on the ship and I felt they couldn't wait to get rid of us - it felt like we had cooties.