The ship is starting to show it's age. Furniture, carpets and other things are looking tired, worn and styles and fabrics are very dated, There are glass sculptures on deck 5 that have broken pieces and they have been that way for a couple years. A few places like the Star Lounge have been redone and it makes a world of difference to compare those spaces to the original decor in other areas. One elevator (one of the only bank that goes up to deck 14) has been out of order forever. We were on this ship in September and it was out of order then. Now it is blocked off and the door walled off! With the increased number of folks with mobility issues, canes, scooters, chairs etc. as swell as physical size limitations makes using the elevator a real pain. On deck 14 you can wait 10 minutes for an elevator. We had a Junior Suite and loved the extra room. Everything in the room was original decor because we booked this in the inaugural year and I have the photos! Our room attendant was excellent and attentive. Same thing with our waiter in the dining room.

The food was good and portions were fine. The selection of entrees continues to drop. There is very little variety from nite to nite. The "Classic Menu Offering" has disappeared. A couple of the items are offered every nite but they are listed to look like variety on the menu in terms of the evenings offerings rather than being standard and the menu having about six new items to choose from for that evening. I think this is intentional to push you to the specialty dining. RCCL just cannot get dining requests implemented. We booked this and requested My Time. We were assigned 5:30 dinner. This the fourth cruise in a row from RCCL where they just can't get the information from the booking to the onboard dining room.Folks this is not brain surgery. Then I stood in line twice because the first guy was only authorized to set up a queue to resolve passenger issues. He was difficult and I finally just left and ate when and where I wanted as the evenings progressed!! Oh well..Windjammer has a good variety and they are good at keeping the steam tables supplied. Omelettes in the morning were a challenge as they were prepared individually. Plenty of options for each individual taste. Tables were cleared and cleaned quickly to allow new guests to be seated. We booked Chops Grille one evening. Food was excellent but the menu and options continue to be more and more limited. If you want sea food or surf and turf get your wallet out AGAIN! Now remember that you have already paid for dinner as a part of your cruise fare, plus you paid an upcharge to go to the restaurant and now they want another $29.00 if you want shrimp with that steak. Ridiculous! Johnny Rockets the 50's diner used to be an up charge of $3.98. The charge now is $11.95/pp. Now that is for a hamburger mind you. An take into account you have already paid to have lunch so why do they need to gouge you again? It is just like the drink gratutities going up to 18%. There is no reason a small G & T should hit $15.00 and then if you order in port in Galveston the fine state of Texas tacks on a couple more bucks. Welcome to Texas!

We had a couple good entertainers that were great. The other nites they insist on using the Royal Caribbean Dancers. One nite is sufficient. I don't care how many costumes you change or what song you choose - once I have seen that dance I don't care to see it three more times in a different costume with different music. Enough already. Book some entertainers with variety. They continue to do the Quest game show. I view it as raunchy, fraternity type drunken yahoos. It is not the scavenger hunt that is advertised since the repeat cruisers come with supplies and a game plan to get on camera. The other games shows - Love and Marriage, Battle of the Sexes etc. are getting very old. Clearly no effort has been put into developing some new material or new options. It is same old tired stuff with different passengers. The same goes for the daytime activities. Many of the things listed on the Cruise Compass as an "event - or thing to do" for that time slot is nothing more than marketing. A Tagguer Watch sale is not an "activity" it is an invitation to come drop some coin. The same with come to the spa for tips to bust that belly fat - oh seriously! Many times there is nothing going on on the ship and I venture to say they have zero planning for a rainy day or inclement weather. There is no additional entertainment staff offering enrichment lectures, new things to do, tours or activities. Just go entertain yourself or maybe spend some money in the casino. Poor way to treat guest in my view. This daily itinerary hasn't changed much in 10 years. Come on folks - make a little effort! Read more