On Day 1, the ships daily paper "Cruise Compass" promised "the most amazing cruise vacation of your life". Err....No. Actually it was almost the worst in 34 years of cruising.

Notwithstanding the poor weather for two-thirds of the trip (over which RCI has no control), our experience of this cruise was largely disappointment; the same goes for the majority of other passengers that we spoke to. I have travelled with many different cruise companies over the past 34 years (Azamara, Princess, Cunard, Thompson, Costa, MSC, Star Cruises, NCL, Island, etc.) and with one exception this was the least good. RCI's primary intent seems to be to extract as much money as possible from customers from the minute they step on board, rather than striving to give them the best possible vacation experience. The sense of disappointment was accentuated because this was marking the occasion of my 60th birthday - we travelled a long way and paid a fair amount of money only to be let down.

We had so many issues that I am not going to cover them all in this review. We spent far too much of our vacation at the Guest Services desk trying to sort out problems - there was a complete absence of concern or apology from the staff. Given that many passengers were seasick as a result of the ship wallowing in only moderate swell, because the stabilizers weren't deployed, it is obviously that RCI puts profits before the safety and comfort of passengers. Read more