Of our 25 cruises, about half have been on RCL. We usually travel as a group of 2 or 4. This time, we brought 8 family members, and found that RCL was not well equipped to handle a group of that size. Restaurant reservations were a hassle. Benefits that we receive for being in a Grand Suite did not provide any significant benefit. Staff were often unhelpful in helping us do things as a group. For example, we were told that the Coastal Kitchen restaurant was off limits to us because our children were not in a Grand Suite (who buys Grand Suites for their children?).

The two of us had been on Allure in May 2016, and noticed a decline in attitude among a number of staff members. Some were outstanding (e.g. cabin steward, restaurant staff, sports activities personnel). Others clearly didn't like their job, and it showed. We were told "No" quite a bit for reasonable requests.

Getting off the ship was downright frightening. As we were getting off the ship, they pulled my son and daughter in law aside and wouldn't let them disembark. They gave the rest of our family zero explanation as to what was going on, and wouldn't let us back on the ship to see where they went. They blamed it on the customs service, and were very rude. Finally, they let them off through another route. We only found them through luck, and the incident almost caused us to miss our post cruise shore excursion. I plan to ask my travel agent to make a formal complaint with RCL over this, as it outrageous behavior. Read more