This was my 23rd cruise (cruised 10 other times on other lines) with Royal Caribbean which was always my favorite line. However, I am sorry I decided to take a Mega ship this year and because of our experience, I will never take another Mega ship again. The Oasis of the Seas was a fabulous ship, no doubt, but a number of things that Royal Caribbean has been known for suffered because of the masses of people who had to be serviced. Embarkation was a nightmare, which was a continuation of our terrible airport checkin. It used to be that once your bags were on the plane, you never saw them again until they were delivered in front of your cabin on the ship. Imagine our shock when we had to haul our bags through the airport, searching for someone to ask where we should go. We were never told by our Royal Caribbean agent that this would happen at the airport so we were shocked and incredibly disappointed, not to mention exhausted by the time we boarded the ship.

Our cabin was comfortable and clean. However, this was the worse food I'd ever eaten on ANY Royal Caribbean ship. It was more like what prisoners call "grub". This was true in both the dining room and the Windjammer. The best things to eat were the rolls and butter and desserts. You often didn't know what the food was in the Windjammer, ugh. There were many foreign dishes which needed and English translation so we'd know what we were eating. Fortunately, service was excellent in our cabin, dining room and Windjammer.

It is obvious that Royal is changing it's focus to younger, less discerning passengers who could care less about quality, taste and presentation of their meals. That is so sad but I guess there are just way too many people to care about ambiance and quality. When I spend that much money, I want quality. I can eat tough prime rib, tiny lobsters the size of prawns, and stew at home. Royal Caribbean might find that they are losing many of their seasoned cruisers to the younger, less experienced, less demanding passenger and because of this, they will quickly find themselves on the level with Carnival Cruise Lines.