This was our first Royal Caribbean Cruise, and it will likely be our last. It's not for lack of trying from some of the staff, however. We had a GREAT head waiter who worked hard to rectify my complaints, a fantastic room steward and very good service desk personnel. The problem is that I had to complain about anything on a cruise. The major problem my family experienced was with the organization and availability of food on board. If you're used to a 24 hour availability and ease of obtaining food, this is not your cruise. That's not to say it doesn't exist, it does in a small cafe called the Cafe Promenade. But it is a SMALL cafe, and there are 3,800 guests. The other 24 hour option is room service, but beware...it comes with a $7.95 delivery charge and an 18% gratuity. On the week we sailed, it was also a spring break week. These kids were hungry, thirsty...and LOUD. The largest dining room on the ship, the Windjammer Cafe, closed at 9:00 p.m. How foolish with so many kids on board. Pizza, hotdogs and hamburgers should've been on speed dial. In general, food service seemed to suffer from poor organization and lack of preparation. In addition to these concerns we also experienced a late room service delivery with the incorrect order.

Our Cabin Steward was also top notch...great guy who kept us supplied with ice and quickly responded to our needs. But again, we had them. Overall our room was very clean, but we did experience one curious event. We received a note that our balcony was to be painted while we were in port. That was okay as we were "in port' and out of our room the entire day. When we returned, our balcony railing had been varnished. It was beautiful...but we noticed what appeared to be blood droplets across our bed linens. We couldn't figure out how they got there...I presumed one of the workers had cut him/herself. But we'll never know. Steve (our steward) quickly changed all of our linens.

The entertainment on board ship was hit or miss. LOVED the ice show (Ice Dancin')...saw it twice. We experienced two of the big production shows: one centered around ballroom dancing and the other was also a musical review called "Backstage Access." All three were sort of period musical reviews and could've benefited from more variety. I wasn't impressed with the Latin band that played throughout the various venues. They were talented enough, but none had an overabundance of personality. Read more