I rely heavily on reviews when making travel plans, so I felt it necessary to review our trip as it was very disappointing and not at all reflective of the other positive reviews provided. We sailed RC about 10 years ago and it was an amazing vacation, but it was a very different experience this time around. The level of service and activities offered onboard were mediocre at best and our opinion was shared by many of our fellow travelers. As stated in other recent reviews, the activities and entertainment seemed geared toward an older crowd and left us bored most evenings after dinner. My husband and I traveled with our two sons, ages 7 and 5. They loved the pools and H2O zone, so at least they had a good time. However, there were many areas that need improvement on this ship.

Our first port, CocoCay, was missed due to high winds and the tender boats being unable to operate. This was very disappointing especially when we discovered that two other ships, Carnival and Disney, who sailed the same time as us, reversed their itineraries to avoid the bad weather and to prevent missing any ports. This also created too many sea days with passengers who disregarded the signs that clearly stated reserving pool chairs was prohibited. Every day we were welcomed to the pool area by a sea of lonely towels sitting on chars for hours with no one using them. I only saw "deck patrol" remove two towels during the whole week.

The Windjammer buffet was awful. We had lunch in there most days as it was the only food close to the pool area. The food was edible, but that's not saying much. Seating was crowded and difficult to maneuver between tables. There were attendants with walkie talkies trying to assist with finding tables, but they often just got in the way. I saw one attendant actually ask two elderly ladies to get up from a large table, which was all they could find. He then told them to go the other side of the large dining room where an attendant was holding them a smaller table. The ladies had to weave through the crowds trying to keep hold of their food to find the other table. We've had made to order options on other cruise lines such as burgers, stir fry or deli sandwiches. There was none of that here. It was the same cold burgers and sandwiches that had been sitting out for hours. We actually received spoiled milk on the day of our disembarkation. The expiration date said it was good for another day, but I'm not surprised that it had soured early with the way things were just left out for hours each day. Read more