I just returned from the 7/18 POA cruise and we had a marvelous time. I saw only two cases of staff members being abrupt and both of them were being harassed by angry passengers, to the breaking point. Many of the crew members were unhappy and looked anxious much of the time but we found their attitudes changed when they realized we weren't angry at them or the ship. One thing we noticed everywhere we went: passengers complained about everything and the more they compared notes the angrier they got. It was an infection of sorts. When we responded with our positive experiences, no one wanted to listen.

There is no question some passengers had cabin stewards who were hard to find or unresponsive but the ones we had both for our cabins and in other areas on our deck, were helpful, cheerful and excellent at their jobs. Our kids loved our cabin stewardess so much they bought her a bracelet from the gift shop on the last night!

We had a problem on formal night (Tuesday night) with a reservation at the Crossings. Dinner that night was complicated by a medical sea rescue the ship was involved in. It seems some of the emergency staff members come from the dining rooms and they were needed for an hour right at the beginning of dinner to help with a helicopter evacuation resulting from the ship's response to a mayday. Read more