Will try another cruise line after 30 plus with RCC

My first cruise was the maiden voyage of Sovereign of the Seas for my honeymoon with my now deceased husband. It ushered in a life long love of cruising for my family. Having only strayed once from the Royal Caribbean brand, we have been loyal customers to RCC.

Over the last 30 years the cruising industry has changed considerably. While once catering and pampering passengers with luxury, today’s passengers are bombarded with hawkers promoting the latest deal from RCC. I have had enough. For the first time ever, I could not wait to get back home and off the RCC Liberty of the Seas cruise ship. I will try to summarize and be brief in my explanation.

The Liberty is a lovely ship. The room was standard to average. I have cruised all categories and obviously the best experiences are in the upper categories. But occasionally it is necessary to cruise on a budget. As with my first now deceased husband, my 2nd and present husband also cruised on our honeymoon sailing on the Navigator in 2014. It was still a wonderful cruise.  Our cruise in March 2015 out of New Orleans, had some issues. Our cruise in April of 2016 was still fun but I am starting to  fall out of love with RCC. My recent and last cruise with RCC was the Liberty out of Galveston. My love affair with RCC is officially over.

My husband and I were actually bored during sea days. Where once there were so many options to entertain ourselves, we could literally find nothing to do without opening our wallet. The entertainment we did find was dull, boring or very unprofessional. We had a great cruise director, very enthusiastic. He was very convincing about directing us to all the forms of entertainment but the entertainment itself was quite lack luster. Most of the things he recommended incurred additional charges. My husband grew weary of being bombarded with the next great sale, a pep talk leading to another sale or the next best deal to “save us money.” While it is understandable, the cruise lines need to make money, it has reached a point where it is no longer feasible or enjoyable to cruise if one must be nicked and dimed for every little thing. Our days consisted of being offered great spa specials, shopping and excursions talks, wine tastings, mixology demonstrations, bingos, and more sales pitches…all for a fee…..(there was a free napkin folding class)

Having many dining choices is certainly pleasing but the once $20 surcharge has reached unrealistic proportions. I am assuming the extra restaurants may not be full every night with the hawking every hour to now “Make your reservation.” EVERYWHERE! We were approached in the dining room during our meals, in the hallways, in the venues, flyers in our rooms….ENOUGH!!!!!!  Also the quality of the food in the main dining facilities has gone down. My husband and I along with six unknown table mates complained nightly about dinner. I listen to conversations among our new friends about all the issues I am outlining in this letter.

Not only the food quality has declined but so has the overall service. Having NEVER encountered a rude employee aboard a RCC ship, we encountered several on this cruise. Our table service was non existence with one waiter and one assistant. On our last cruise there were four people tending to our section. Our cabin attendant was no better as she had 20 rooms to attend. She was working constantly, but she could not keep up.

The evening entertainment was less than mediocre. The RCC singers on our first night were not even semi professional. They generated no energy with their performances. The second night performance of a Whitney Houston rendition totally lost us about fifteen minutes into the performance when the entertainer decided to use her “platform” to politicize the concert. We simply walked out, along with numerous other guests. I want to relax and be entertained on my cruise, not preached to. The third night comedian was slightly better, and the fourth night comedian was the best of all. The highly anticipated Saturday Night Live performance was the largest disappointment of all. While the set, costumes, and cast of actors were impressive, the actors rushed their lines to the point of little audience understanding and they were drowned out by the orchestra. On the positive side the Ice Show was amazing. These were truly professional performers.

Let me say again I do not want to encounter political opinions while on my cruise. If RCC is going to offer LGBT or single gatherings then they should also have couple and heterosexual gatherings. Quite frankly my husband and I would have loved to be included in a gathering  introducing like minded couples.

My heart is broken that I can no longer continue to support the RCC brand. It was a wonderful relationship but I am leaving RCC for another cruise line.