Arrived 2-days early in Amsterdam for departure on May 19. needed more time there since Amsterdam has many, many sites to see (advance reservations a must for popular sites). Excellent TRAM system with a cheap 24-hour pass can get you near most sites.

As a newly minted RCI Diamond cruiser, we enjoyed the expedited check in and especially the evening free happy hour in the Diamond lounge where we met fellow cruisers to learn of their experiences over a cocktail or glass of wine and hors d'oeuvres. Also open 24/7 for premium coffee as well as breakfast snacks each morning. One complaint is there were so many Diamond cruisers on this voyage, they had to open the adjacent lounge to handle everyone and the bar service was slow. To RCI's credit, they did load 3-free drinks per day on your card which you could use during happy hour at any bar (No specialty drinks) to help draw down the crowd at the Diamond lounge. Food was OK and we enjoyed MYTIME dinning where we tried to get the same waiters each night. Entertainment was OK, but nothing special when compared to the Oasis class ship venues. RCI shore excursions were expensive so we followed advice on CC and booked in advance online two tours through TJ Travel, the major 2-day tour in St. Petersburg (most excellent) and 5-hour Stockholm (OK but wished we had more time at the VASA museum). Another complaint about RCI is they announced a week before departure the RCI tours would disembark first before the private tour groups, thus delaying the private tours for a time, but all seemed well in the end.....