Eighth cruise with Royal Caribbean, and thought we would be loyal to this cruise line forever, but this will be our last one. Staff has been significantly cut back and service has suffered. The overall appearance of the ship is run down and dirty. A fellow passenger said that he'd been on the same ship a year ago, and although he'd got a lot of gray hair over the year, he didn't get as old as this ship. The signage at some of the bars and cafes was burned out - what does it take to fix? The cappuccino maker didn't work in any of the specialty restaurants, which you have to pay for, so the waiter directed us to the coffee bar. In the past, they would have gone to get the cappuccino for us, wherever they had to go.
When we first started cruising, before entering a restaurant or returning from an excursion, there would be a staff member with a bottle of hand sanitizer that we had to use before entering. On this cruise, never once were we advised to wash our hands, and although there were hand sanitizer dispensers around, the were often empty. The cutbacks are more important to the cruise line leadership than the safety of passengers.
The curtain in the dining room had a large, visible 6 inch tear in it, that I had to stare at each dinner. There was a big yellow stain on my pillow case when we boarded. The shears in our stateroom were stained. Our sink dripped and piped dripped on the bathroom floor. Our fridge didn't work. Carpets and wood flooring were worn.
Dirty sheets and sheers. Dripping tap and pipes. Fridge didn't work.
Beaches were quiet and nice
Went to Mambo beach - nice beach. $3.50 per person to enter, $3.50 to rent chair. $5.00 per per cab fare each way
Went to Eagle Beach - great beach. Chairs $40 for 2. Cab fare $13 each way