Most of it good, some of it very bad.

     This was our second cruise with Royal Caribbean.  Again, the ship's food, service, shows, and atmosphere were excellent, and the day trips at every stop were wonderful.  But not everything was great and wonderful.  First, we were shocked to pay an 18% gratuity on the endless-refill soft drink cups that we bought.  Where's the service that we're paying for?!  And please don't say it includes the service at all the bars.  We never got refills there because they didn't have all the flavors that the dispensing machines had, for example, Coke Zero.  And speaking of the dispensing machines, we couldn't believe that the ship had only three locations for them -- two in the buffet and two in the main promenade.  The ship definitely should have had two more dispensers outside in the pool and hot tub areas.   But our BIGGEST disappointment on the trip was our cabin.  Not only was our cabin located directly below the main bar of the casino, from which we heard constant and loud foot stomping and chair moving, our cabin was located directly across the hallway from the Rising Tide Lift Machinery Room which, every five minutes, made a loud operation noise that lasted five minutes, and yes, we definitely heard it in our cabin – loud and clear!  We are certain that the Rising Tide Lift Machinery Room is vital to the ship’s operation – no argument there -- but why in the world would there be cabins located near it?!  Yes, why in the world would there be cabins located near it?!  Did I ask why in the world would there be cabins located near it?  In case I’m not getting my message across, let me ask it again.  WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD THERE BE CABINS LOCATED NEAR THE VERY NOISEY RISING TIDE LIFT MACHINERY ROOM???!!!  Even our neighbors told us they could hear the loud noise. (See the attached pictures that I took right next to our cabin).  So between the loud casino bar noise above us, which means there was poor insulation in the ceiling, and the loud regularly recurring Rising Tide Lift Machinery Room noise across from us, we, needless to say, had a VERY BAD experience in our cabin -- for we could hardly get any sleep.  We complained to Guest Services and asked to be moved, but they didn't help us.  In closing, WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD THERE BE CABINS LOCATED NEAR THE VERY NOISEY RISING TIDE LIFT MACHINERY ROOM???!!!