I have been on many cruises, some were a great experience, some were ok, and ONE was just plain awful. Unfortunately this is the one cruise that was awful. It was so bad in fact, that it has made me realize that I will never cruise with Royal Caribbean ever again. That is just sad!
Let me begin by telling you that the main reason I went on this cruise, was to reward myself with a little bit of alone time. I went solo on this cruise, so seeing that Royal Caribbean does not have studio rooms like NCL does, I had to pay a solo cruiser surcharge (basically a little more than DOUBLE the price of a double occupancy rate.) I knew that going into the cruise, so that I had no problem with that, as long as I get my moneys worth, which I did not.
I had read that this ship just received a major overhaul this year, so I expected a refurbished ship. Aside from the fact that my interior stateroom had the new "virtual balcony" in it, I saw NO other signs of a refurbished ship, aside from the new restaurant Sabor (read on to learn more about Sabor.) The ship is a dump! Everyday there was another broken stool up on deck. The deck planters looked like they have not been repainted in years. Old worn out lounge chairs with broken straps on them. Even the carpeting and walls had a dirty and dingy feel to them. My stateroom toilet never flushed properly. I had the handhold in the shower literally fall off the wall due to rust. My sink faucet was rusty and nasty, and my sink had been cracked and repaired quite poorly.
I was told that the whole ship, especially my stateroom had a total refurb in 2014. I saw little to no evidence of this. I had one of the new "virtual balcony" rooms. I must admit, the room was rather spacious for an interior room, which was great. Everyone that I showed the virtual balcony to, was amazed including myself. It was a pretty standard room. Bed was comfortable, good lighting, plenty of closet space, and it did have a fridge and safe.