We boarded in Singapore: the boarding process was a shambles. We waited for nearly three hours to board. When we finally got on board, the lifeboat drill was held on deck in steamy temperatures causing distress to some elderly guests, again so slow that we finally gave a slow handclap to the crew. The food was fine, the standard of entertainment very average with a couple of exceptions. The tender process in Port Douglas was a complete shambles, we waited two hours to board, not nearly enough boats to offload. The situation was slightly better at Yorkeys Knob but still slow.

The duty free drink delivery was totally disorganised and chaotic. Somehow one of my bottles disappeared from a sealed box when I insisted in opening the box in the store in front of the staff. The only conclusion I could draw was that a staff member stole the bottle of vodka. The box was correctly marked as containing four bottles, but it only contained three bottles. Luckily I had retained my receipt and the girl in the shop hurriedly replaced the missing bottle from the shelves. I got the distinct impression that many of the crew were new and inexperienced. We had two cruises on Royal Caribbean, the first on Harmony in the Mediterranean in early October, then Voyager from Singapore. Harmony was excellent, which made the Voyager cruise all the more disappointing. The captain was obliged to apologise for the boarding and tendering problems, but always blamed some third party for the stuff ups. Not good enough, as he had the ultimate responsibility for our cruising experience.

I am not by nature a complainer, but to me the organisation on this cruise was substandard. They ran out of orange juice, Schweppes tonic, duck and ocean trout on the menu but unavailable. Our first time on Royal Caribbean after two Princess cruises. Our shore excursion to Gaudi's architecture in Barcelona was cancelled for lack of bookings. Read more