plenty to do,too crowded

Largest ship ever.  For me, a little too crowded.  Many kids.  Customer service not really great.  My granddaughter's allergies not addressed until 3rd evening.  Fortunately my granddaughter was always on top of things.  She has a peanut, tree nut allergy and a shellfish allergy. Both are serious allergies. One of our party has an allergy to parmesan cheese (13yr oldgirl) and had a reaction to something she ate while we were celebrating my granddaughters 13th birthday.  She was told by one the nurses to get herself down to the infirmary, which she did, and then was treated.  None of our party knew what had happened to her.  We just knew she had disappeared.  The staff on the ship did all they could to help and was able to locate her and communicate with us.  But, it was a harrowing experience for her parents and the rest of our group.  Just feel that these medical situations could be handled more carefully.  This could really have turned out very badly.  We were very lucky.  But, she was missing  for quite a long period of time.  On the day before departure, the store for small goods, souveniers, etc. was understaffed (0ne man checking everyone out)  He was asked to call for help and replied that everyone was being patient.  That was not my impression.  The line was out the door and all around the store.  People were complaining loudly.  Glass objects were hit and broken on one of the shelves.  I own a boutique in south Florida and would not have handled my store in that way.  The toilets kept breaking and our safe had to be fixed 3 times.  I do not fault the staff.  They were always very kind and did all they could to help us.  But, I believe the ship just had too many passengers onboard.  My son and his new wife had been on this same cruise last year, and did not find it to be this way.  I think the ship is the biggest and most well equipped I've been on.  There was always something to do.  The shows were superbly run, especially the Aqua and Ice shows.  Although, the ice show was standing room only.  I'm almost 72yrs old,and suffered from sciatica for the entire trip.  ...........if that had not happened to me when I got on the ship, I certainly think I would have enjoyed the vacation much more.  The food was at times good but not really great.  However, the specially restaurant (Giovanni's) was exceptional.  Our waiter was extremely wonderful, the food was outstanding, our bottle of wine was incredible, and they even accommodated our entire party for dessert.  I have traveled with Royal before, and may do so again in the future.  My sister in law had never been on a ship and was quite impressed.  She has traveled the world but never by ship.  So, it was really nice to experience it from her view point. I believe your staff did the best they were able to do given the crowds.  Sincerely,  Mrs. Catherine Barnesand

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