Royal Caribbean International worst cruise vaccation ever Galvastion international

I understand your frustrations with embarkation day. There were a lot of other factors at work that you have not taken into consideration. First of all, the ship was late which means there are still people getting off and embarking passengers must wait until the ship is empty and cleared by customs and immigration. Secondly, RCCL had not had a ship in Galveston for several months and when they did, it was half the size of Voyager. Therefore, 50% of the people working were new and had no real life training since there was no "practice ship" and the other 50% had been off for several months. The next time you choose to cruise, I would suggest arriving at the pier an hour or two before the "suggested" arrival time in your documents. As for standing in the sun, I don't know what to suggest. I remember that day, it was actually very chilly and the terminal has a fairly large overhang to provide shade, especially in the afternoon.

Opening the outside door to a stateroom in the Caribbean is going to cause the room to get hot. It's the same thing when you open your doors at home in the summer. They don't allow fans because of the amount of power they draw and it blows circuits.

Seeing a Dr. for a cold is never really necessary. A cold is caused by a virus and there are no medications that kill virus'. There's really nothing a doctor can do that you can't do for yourself (ie. decongestants, cough medicince etc.) so it's not fair to blame RCCL for choosing to see the doctor.

The 15% surcharge for stuff on the ship is normal for any cruiseline, not just RCCL. The prices are on par for any land based hotel in the US.

I think there was bad seas in Grand Cayman or something. This isn't RCCL's fault. I know it's frustrating and disappointing but RCCL doesn't control that kind of stuff.

As for waiting for food, there is always food available somewhere on the ship. And just about anything you can find in any of the dining rooms/buffet is available with room service.

Disembark will always be a nightmare. People are grumpy about having to leave the ship. They close off large areas of the ship because they need to be cleaned for the next group of passengers. If an illness breaks out the 'quarantining' of previous passengers ensures that new passengers don't end up with the same illness. Not to mention, the crew likes to get off the ship and so the ship is more than likely short staffed and can't spare the extra crew to go looking around the ship for stowaways.

I'm sorry that your cruise wasn't all you hoped it would be. Cruising with 3400+ other people is going to cause lines. It's a neccessary evil when you're cruising.

Have been on a few cruises. A few notes in case you go again:

1. Embarkation: Several cruises won't even let you in the terminal now until a couple of hours before embarkation starts so wait until later in the morning before going. A better solution if possible is to wait until about an hour or so after boarding starts to get to the terminal. Alot of your wait was probably from people figuring if they got in early they would get on the ship sooner (which is not always the case).

2. Temperature in cabin: After the other folks left they crew probably set the vent so that the room would be cool as opposed to cold. When you had a problem you should have asked your room steward where the controls were and how to adjust them for your tastes (maybe the folks before you were very sensitive to the cold.

3. If you don't like your seating check with guest services or maitre de to change it to an early seating if that suited your schedule best.

4. Never use the mini bar unless you are expecting to pay extra bucks for the convenience of the stuff there. You could have easily asked the room steward to remove everything if you did not want the temptation of the snacks being there. You could have also brought aboard your own sodas and water and put them in the fridge if you wanted. About the only things the cruise lines don't like you bringing on is your own alcohol.

5. I would only go to the ships doctor if I was extremely seasick and even then I would probably have the foresight to go to my own doctor and say I am going on a cruise and would like something for motion sickness. As it is you paid about what you would pay to go to a Solantic or something onshore.

6. The port call part doesn't sound right. I don't remember having to sign up for an excursion to pay for a tender ticket but its been about 5 years or so since I've been to Grand Cayman. If there weren't any excursions you were interested in or considered doing on your own then you could have at least gotten off to walk around and check out some of the sites on your own. Unless or course there were other things occuring that would make this impossible to do.

7. Onboard activities: Just personal taste here. I would never eat lunch or breakfast on the Lido deck unless I slept in and missed it. The food there is just cafeteria mass serving stuff anyway. The real meal was dinner anyway.
Entertainment is up to you if you didn't enjoy it than thats your opinion. You evidently had an unreal expectation of a big broadway production.

8. Debarkation - Get up early and eat a leisurely breakfast (the dining room was open right). Have a couple of cups of coffee or tea and relax until they chase you out. I am pretty sure you could have gone to some other common areas to wait comfortably until your deck is called. Try to get some kind of unique marking or ribbons on your bag to help locate them (unfortunately others do this to). Some cruise lines have the bags broken into decks anyway that would narrow it down a bit.

9. Last but not least before you start your cruise put yourself into the vacation state of mind. Don't worry about rushing anywhere because you won't be. Take the chance to get to know other people maybe make some more friends.
If you start your vacation looking for something to complain about then you probably will find something with no problem.

I would like to address several of your issues.

"Waited in line Two and one half hours in the sun."

The cruise employees were boarding close to 3000 people into a limited space. This kind of wait is inevitable. It's unfortunate that it made you uncomfortable, but it would have happened on any line with ships that big.

"State room was hot! We had a double glass door to a bolcany, with a great view. Go out and lose all the cool air. We had to keep the curtins pulled in order for the room to stay half-way cool ."

When you open a door in a tropical environment, hot air is going to come in. And the A/C can only do so much. RCC has no control over that. Again, it would happen on any Caribbean/Mexican cruise. Maybe Alaska would be a good destination next time?


"Dinner for us was always the second seating. 8:30 pm and I mean 8:30."

That is the late seating, and if you didn't request it personally (you're given a choice), then your travel agent did. Did you ask to be allowed to sit at the earlier dinner?

"Wife had to see the Dr. for a cold. $286.00"

Yeah, the doctors are independent contractors, and can charge whatever they want. Did you buy travel medical insurance? If you did, just submit a claim, and they'll cover it. If not, just remember next time that you don't really need to see a doctor for a cold, on land, or at sea.



"They charged 15% gratuity on everthing, even the Mini-Bar thats in the room Gummi Bears $2.95 plus .45 = $3.40 for Gummim Bears! Water (small) $2.29
Beer over $4.00 for the cheap stuff. What a rip-off."

Did you chose the pre pay option? You can pre pay your gratuities, and then you don't have to worry about it once on the ship. And you don't have to use the mini bar! But honestly, those prices are quite in line with any hotel I've ever stayed at.

"Port of call Grand Cayman was advised not to go ashore unless on their excursions, which included a tinder ticket."

Hmm, there must have been a reason why you were advised to stay on board. What was going on at the time? What reason did they give? The ports are a huge part of the cruise, and there would have been a good reason for this advice.


"Entertainment in the La Scala Theatre was so-so, nothing special."

RCC cannot guarantee that every customer is going to be wowed by the entertainment.


"Windjammer Cafe, a very common buffet, Breakfast-lunch too many people always a line."

Yup, again, there are close to 3000 people on board. Expect line ups on all the major cruise lines. It's inevitable. Did you take advantage of the room service?

And again, debarking, it can be a hassle. The cruise line cannot avoid this.