We booked this cruise 18 month prior to celebrate big Birthday, hoping that by Dec 2021 the world would be done with covid. Unfortunately, covid is still rampant and RCI did not do much to prevent spread of infection on their ship. They should have kept the 50% capacity and enforce mask wearing and distancing, instead they cut activities and left people to fend for themselves. There were close to 2000 passengers, many unvaccinated kids who were in the same room with vaccinated adults, many venues open for everyone, elevators were used by 10 people at the time, many did not wear masks, no social distancing was maintained. Officers, captain and cruise director were hiding from guests all cruise long and there was no one who provided any kind of guidance or maintained the rules.

Now back to this cruise, even knowing not to expect much, we were surprised by poor quality of food onboard, food in main dining was bland and tasteless. Windjammer food is simply put - terrible. There was no one to clean tables, or take away dirty plates, in 5 days no one offered coffee or water, you walk around with a plate and there is literally nothing to eat. Horrible looking blend of something that they make omelets with, raw dough in pancakes and waffles, no fresh juice available. Even specialty restaurants weren't that special, it was normal food that you would expect in main dining, not in specialty restaurant, that you pay extra for. There seems to be a terrible shortage of crew, as one waiter had to care for 6 large tables in the dining room and there was no sommelier, so assistant had to get drinks, bread, water, etc. They have worked very hard and tried to do their best, but shortage was very noticeable.

There was a total lack of service or interest from the crew to guests all over the ship. In 5 days we have not seen a captain, any officers, a cruise director or anyone of any rank. When we asked service desk why, we were told, that "Royal Caribbean is going in the different direction", not sure what that suppose to mean, but whatever this direction is, its opposite of the cruise experience we want. Read more