First, let me say that the service and food and the ship itself are incrediable. You will love it and if it's your first cruise, you will be awed by the sheer size of it all. They literally have a park on the ship and a boardwalk. I can't explain it very well, but it feels like you are on an island with floors. There are many things to do for kids and adults. Many of the specific activities are pay-to-play though so be careful about spending money onboard!

Now, the reason it missed the mark for me this time. I sailed on Royal Caribbean's sister ship the Allure first and this was my second cruise. The ships are identicial in almost everything so I thought I would have a great experience like the first time. Two major things dampened our stay. The headline show was CATS and all the shows had to be canceled due to two of the actors getting sick. Royal's responce to this was not adequate. Although I acknowledge that illness among the actors is not their fault, they should have held a concert with the remaining actors singing whatever songs they could without the sick ones. Instead they put on an impromtu show that was a mesh of unrelated songs. Now the singers were amazing but I wanted to hear CATS, period. Not songs of Frank Sinatra or from Frozen.

Another disappointment was how they handled reservations for events. If I have a reservation, I shouldn't have to show up 20 or more minutes before the show starts to get a seat. They were allowing standby people into events a full 15 minutes before the show started. This happened to me at both a diving show and a comedy show. Both have limited seating and it was infuriating to get there exactly 15 minutes before the show and have no seat. I am on a cruise, I shouldn't have to arrive early to something I had reservations for. Period. Read more