Either RCI’s standards have dropped or they chose to just totally drop the ball on this cruise. This cruise is geared for locals, so if you're not one, avoid this cruise.

EMBARKATION: Shanghai’s terminal is far from the city center. The drop off point was very far from the terminal. I understand these are under the port jurisdiction not RCI, but we did see vehicles entering the area. Provisions / shuttles should have been provided by RCI for people with limited mobility. My dad was in a wheelchair so it was fine but my elderly uncle was practically near collapse. Once you enter the terminal, the endless lines for check-in, immigration, security, etc. made for a stressful start. We were supposed to have priority check-in but our companions without priority got through faster. We left our hotel at 10am, got to the drop off around 11am, and finally got on the ship close to 2pm. So you had elderly people with limited mobility walking for 3 hours!!!

My husband’s first name (2 names) exceeded the 14 character limit of RCI, so they truncated the last letter. I kept raising concern that this would pose a problem. Our agent and even the RCI reservations personnel said it was ok even if it’s not matching his passport name. Well, guess what happened next? Of course we ran into problems and had to be pulled aside. I feared my husband might not be allowed on board and the ground staff were mostly Chinese and don’t understand English. Good thing I knew enough Chinese to explain that RCI told us his name was too long and that RCI said it was ok, and they let us through. Read more