This was our first cruise with Royal Caribbean which we chose because of it's itinerary, starting at Palma on Majorca. We have travelled previously with four smaller companies so we were interested to try a market leader.

Before I continue, I should point out that there was nothing dramatically wrong with the experience, but we found it to be a disappointment compared to our other cruises. We lost count of the times we said to each other "it's not like this on the Thompson Spirit" etc.

The big, major disappointment was the amount of time the Windjammer self-service restaurant is closed.....there were not even token attempts at elevenses, afternoon tea, or supper for instance (standard items on our previous cruises). Food there was lacklustre at best. In addition we thought this restaurant to be badly laid out and unable to cope adequately when it was open. There are two round-the-clock tea/coffeee stations (and a small pizza counter) around the deck, but one of these failed to dispense properly hot water which was obviously irritating a number of people. Read more