We have been on this ship many times and it was always our favorite Vision class ship. Much has been written about the cutbacks in service and quality and this proved to be the case on this cruise. The first day we decided after visiting the Windjammer buffet that we would take all of our dinners in the main dining room. We have not done this for years, usually alternating between the WJ and the MDR. But the buffet was so unappealing in selection and presentation that it just put us off. It wasn't this way in the past. The main dining room menu was pretty good in selection and quality. Our servers were also good. All of the servers were obviously pretty busy with many tables to serve. Although the cabin was only serviced once a day, our steward gave us the choice of morning (which we selected) or evening. But she did bring ice and delivered the program for the next day in the evening.

We are Pinnacle level in the Crown and Anchor Society and were once again disappointed to be denied access to the Concierge Club on the grounds of too many suites guests onboard. This is getting to be a standard excuse on the last several RCI cruises we have been on. This ship had the poorest selection of appetizers in the remaining temporary Pinnacle lounge and Diamond lounge, with not even serve egg rolls on any of the nights we visited. This used to be always an option. There were tours etc. of the off limits parts of the ship if you paid for them but they used to be part of your Pinnacle benefits. The thing that is aggravating is that though you have been loyal to Royal, they have responded by taking away your earned benefits leaving you feel like have been cheated rather than rewarded.

The ports of call were Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao which we had been to before. It was disappointing that the trolley was not running in Aruba because it was Saturday, even though there was a ship in port. Most of the entertainment on the ship was good on this ten night cruise with six sea days. Read more