Karen-how was the cruise
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Karen-how was the cruise
Karen, How was your cruise? Where did you go? What cruiseline?
Eh.............so-so............
It was my first (and last) cruise on RCCL. The ship was filthy, lots of odors, mildew, ZERO organization, rude crew/staff, disembarkation was a total nightmare, we almost missed our flights.......
Just very disappointing. Not saying I didn't have *any* fun - I did, but it was more stressful than relaxing and not what I'd hoped it would be.
Thanks for asking. 
WOW, Karen, I am so sorry to hear that about your cruise. Which ship did you go on?
That is exactly how I felt when we cruised with Carnival 2 yrs ago..I mean your complaints were almost the same complaints I had with Carnival.
Yet, we just sailed on RCCL Grandeur of the seas in Late AUGUST, and it was sooooooooo much better then Carnival. The ship was extremely clean, the staff was more then nice and helpful. We honestly did not want for anything, they truley spoiled us.One day in the dining room, they did not have the item my daughter ordered for lunch. Well they did have it, but it took so extremely long. The head waiter apoligized over and over. Later on that day, we received 2 dozen chocolate covered strawberries via room service to our cabin. The Head Waiter sent it to us and send us a card to apoligize for the wait in the dining room.
I really believe you can't judge a cruise line by one ship only. We had a bad experience on Carnival, yet others truley rave about it.
When we sailed on the Grandeur, I was worried because it was one of the older ships and not as big. BUT... I was truley surprised how extremely clean it was, and how friendly everybody was.
WHat ports did you go too?
Sorry to hear it wasn't a great cruise, Karen. That sure is disappointing!
Jackie, I agree that it makes a difference depending on the ship you're on. I've only cruised with Carnival, and both ships we were on were amazing!! I think your cruise with them was in between my 2, so I was a bit worried. We were thrilled both times. I am highly allergic to mold, and would literally die if I had to stay on a moldy ship. I would have been sleeping by the pool!!
It was the Enchantment of the Seas. And I'm not the only one who was complaining. All of our group who had previously sailed on other ships/lines had the same complaints, as well as NUMEROUS other passengers we spoke with or overheard. I heard so many people say they would never sail on RCCL again due to the experience on this ship.
DH and I like Celebrity - we have sailed Carnival once and since then always on Celebrity - until my cruise on RCCL last week.
Marcia, there was mold everywhere - the bathrooms, pool areas, the carpeting on the lower cabin decks smelled just like dirty, wet socks that had been inside dirty, wet sneakers - you know that smell I'm talking about? It was just disgusting. Everyone was complaining about the smell of urine/mildew in the bathrooms in the cabins. We actually had to ask our stateroom attendant to change out our shower curtain the 2nd day because it smelled so bad.
Also, in the public restrooms, I encountered a number of toilets that would not flush at all, or flush properly, and that urine smell was there. On 2 different nights, people had apparently vomited outside the elevators/at the top of the stairs on a couple of decks, and even though it had been *cleaned up*, the smell was overwhelming for hours in the areas.
One afternoon I ate a salad at the buffet for lunch, and got sick later on. The food at the buffet/cafe wasn't always fresh, the fruits and salad bar items were not fresh, the meats were dried out, the bread was stale - it *really* wasn't a very pleasant experience. My sister and I ate in the specialty restaurant one night and the food was delicious - but they forgot to bring our vegetables out with the meal and it took between 5 and 10 minutes to get someone's attention to ask for them. They had forgotten.
I did have fun on a shore excursion and the last day of our cruise was a sea day, and I really enjoyed that. And I enjoyed spending time with everyone, so it wasn't a total loss. Honestly, I am not one of those people who nitpick and complain about every little thing when on a cruise - I have read plenty of posts like that on the cruise boards, and up until now, the minor things that tend to come up on every cruise have really never been an issue for me. I don't expect every single thing to be perfect. In this case, it was hard to find positive things to say about the ship/crew/cruise. I will cruise again, just not on RCCL.
I believe that is an older ship. We only go on the newer ships.
I am sorry you had such a bad experience! we love Royal caribbean and have been on 5 cruises with them.
Karen, that did sound like a bad experience. I wonder why some ships are so good and clean, yet others they let get bad and then do not do anything about it.
I will say something about the buffet, which I almost forgot until you mentioned it. On our 9 night cruise, we ate in the Windjammer(buffet)only 3 times. Honestly, we just prefered the service in the dining room. In the buffet area, it was chaotic and hectic, people just everywhere. Though, tables were always clean and picked up(Unlike when we sailed on Carnival, where dirty dishes would just stay stacked for long periods of time).
The first time we ate in the buffet was the first day, the first lunch. We ate in there 2 times after, and both times, we all felt a little "sick" afterwards. No, nobody in our group actually threw up(sorry for the visual LOL)but all of us felt off, made several trips to the bathroom. We couldn't pinpoint it as none of really ate the same food..
After the 3rd time, we ate each meal in the dining room and never had any stomach upset after that.
I can tell you that on our cruise, the breakfast food sat out for at least an hour before they opend. I know this because I would get up early and walk the jogging track. You could see the buffet area as you were walking, and they had food out already, and it was still an hour before they opened.
Karen, did you write any complaints to RCCL?
No. I left a very negative review on cruisecritic, and I filled out the customer (dis)satisfaction survey onboard. Really though, it would be pointless for me to complain to RCCL - at best, they might offer me a credit for a future cruise, and I don't plan to cruise with them again.
I really hate to sound like one of those people who complains about everything, or is never satisfied. I fully realize that not everything will be perfect on a cruise (or ANY vacation), and I accept that. On all of my other cruises, there have been little things here or there that were annoying or irritating, and I never made an issue of it.
It just seemed like there was one thing after another that wasn't even close to par, and honestly, when you are smelling the smells we had to smell for 5 days and nights straight, that in itself is enough to give you a bad impression of the ship in particular and the line in general, but it wasn't just the smells - it was the overall cleanliness of the vessel and the overall quality of the food.
And again, I don't expect gourmet quality food on cruises - I have cruised quite a few times and know what to expect. This was really below par.
And the other thing that WAS a big issue for me was the lack of organization by the crew, and their attitudes towards guests, particularly when we were trying to get off the ship. Being yelled at was NOT acceptable. I just think there was a lot of room for improvement.
I'll just chalk this one up to experience. As I said above, it wasn't a total loss, because I DID enjoy the company I was with and that's the main reason I went in the first place.
I read your review. Wow! It seems like a lot went wrong.
I have not experienced any of those things on Royal Caribbean. I imagine each ship is different.
We had a bad experience on Carnival and tried another of their ships. It was entirely different. We then tried Royal Caribbean and have been cruising with them ever since.
We leave for our cruise next month. We are celebrating our 15th anniversary onboard. I hope we do not have any of the issues you had!
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