Wine2Roses

First, the plus: This recently refurbished ship was lovely...balcony room was great (only way to cruise). All accommodations, from the stateroom to the pools to the dining areas, were very nicely done. The spa was fabulous...very relaxing. Stateroom attendant kept accommodations very clean & well organized. Loved the new touch-screen ship info boards...always knew where, what, & when. Most staff were very friendly & upbeat. The Western Mediterranean ports were great, & the shore excursion choices were many & varied & organized. Now, the "room for improvements": Main dining room service was good, not great; the assistant waiter seemed to be more on top of things than the main waiter...he seemed to "trip" over himself when describing the menus, often seemed like he was reading from a script. Food was very lackluster & served only lukewarm...once or twice actually cold & had to be sent back. Much better food & service on a recent 3-day cruise out of Los Angeles on Carnival. Although, the stateroom attendant kept the room clean & well organized, there were times when attention to detail was sorely lacking & you distinctly got the idea he would rather be somewhere else...whenever there was an issue. One evening, he left behind the laundry bag which had been laid out (per custom), & we had to take to Guest Relations at midnight. He apologized for the oversight, but you could tell his sincerity was forced. The next problem also occurred regarding laundry (maybe laundry isn't this ship's forte): Clothing had been laid out for cleaning & pressing; yes, the bag was taken, but the laundry was not returned the next day by 5:00 p.m. as clearly stated on the ship's own form. We had to call down @ 6:30 p.m., stateroom attendant brought it up...minus one piece. That article of clothing, 3 weeks later, still hasn't been found. Now, the "minus": Consistent policies. A very real problem for Royal Caribbean. In all communications to the guests---ship newsletter, public announcements, ship channel on stateroom TV---SMOKING ONLY IN DESIGNATED AREAS. We were in a non-smoking stateroom, on a non-smoking deck, with a sign on the balcony: PLEASE REMEMBER SMOKING IS NOT PERMITTED ON THIS BALCONY. The last morning (thank goodness) brought a rough day on the sea, our balcony door was left open for fresh air as my husband was suffering from seasickness, and, of course, in come wafts of smoke. When Guest Relations was called & asked if a general announcement could be made in the rooms (obviously, no one could go door-to-door to find the culprit) just to remind all guests of the smoking parameters, we were told that guests "are allowed to smoke on the balconies." When we informed the young lady that there is clearly a sign on the balcony saying "no," we were told 1.) smoking on the balcony is o.k. as long as the door is closed (huh?) and 2.) she would send someone up from housekeeping to look at that sign, because it shouldn't be there & she would call us back to let us know the outcome (huh? again). Never did see housekeeping, never got a call back, & when the supervisor came up hours later with regard to the missing laundry item, he repeated the same thing, refused to comment on the inconsistencies, & refused to come out to the balcony to acknowledge the sign. Get the staff & your policies on the same page, Royal Caribbean!!!!! All in all, we had a wonderful time, mostly because of the ports visited, the other guests we came to know & enjoy being with, & because we were there to celebrate a special anniversary & birthday. Royal Caribbean just happened to be the mode of transportation.