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We had a good,  not great, time. Food was okay; desserts were fair. Entertainment was okay, except for Ice Show, which was great. Carl Banks, comedian, was very funny. Things to watch out for:1) transfer cost from Houston Airport to Galveston Port was $47, for an hour and a half ride. I travel to Boston (5 hours) for a lot less than that. Real rip off. Shame on Royal Caribbean for starting the cruise that way; 2) RC tours promise, but don't always deliver. Case in point: tour of historical Galveston and Houston Space Center: no tour of historic Galveston, a tour guide who shared personal stories, rather than information about Galveston, Houston, etc.; and a tour that ended much earlier than we expected.

Well, perhaps my expectations were beyond realistic for this cruise. Six days of sailing, then seven fabulous ports. What could be bad? Nothing. Except this cruise was just a little "off." For starters and, of course, not Royal Caribbean's fault, the weather was awful. Cold, windy, all the way across and in every port. We never had an opportunity to sit on deck, to enjoy the sun, to swim, to rock wall climb, and the like. For another, the ship was unprepared to offer its guests critical information we needed about the ports themselves. For example, maps were not provided consistently that showed where the ship docked, what transportation was available from those docks to the city, and the cost and frequency of that transportation. When guest services was asked, we were told that maps were available when we got off the ship. Well, I like to plan my day in port the night before. That was very difficult to do. Such an inconvenience did not seem to bother guest services, who remained aloof from guest distress. Another example--guest services could not tell us the Swedish currency equivalency to the dollar. Come on, now. Nor could they provide us with Danish currency, even though our last port was Copenhagen. Guest service personnel really needed a course in extraordinary customer service.

Food was good, not great. Food service personnel were very attentive and helpful, though. Entertainment was good, not great, except for the orchestra, which was excellent, and a guitar player named Segundo, who was brilliant. We saw two good comedians the first two nights out, and then never saw them again. What happened to the adult comedy show they could have performed on those nights? There was little activity going on in the evenings. Five movies shown over and over again on a fifteen day cruise. Really?

So, the cruise did not live up to my expectations.