8 Nights - Southern Caribbean and Perfect Day

We've been on 15 cruises so far, twelve with Royal Caribbean. In every way, the service is outstanding, likewise for the entertainment. However the variety of foods offered in the buffet and regular dining has been reduced over the years. Nowadays, the buffet caters mainly to folks with an unsophisticated pallet who relish inexpensive mediocre food items like pizza, hamburgers and spaghetti. The buffet also includes a buffet island that offers Asian food that one could find better at a local Asian restaurant. Unless one does the optional at an extra cost 'Specialty Dining", the nightly Main Dining menu selection is limited and unimaginative; all done to increase profits. Although the tour guide to visitor ratio could be improved, the shore excursions are a best bet for folks who want to safely taste local cuisine and explore the culture of the ports of call without hassles. The excursions are more expensive than a DIY excursion however the ship sponsored excursions guarantee a return to the ship before sailing where as private tours are not. We still believe that the cruise is a great value and even with the above comments still worthy of considering for your next vacation. Where else would you be able to safely visit different countries, enjoy nightly entertainment, and have great living accommodations all under one roof. It's a stress free vacation that, in general, will not disappoint.

Ship excursions were very disorganized and rushed. People were lost during the excursion which then made the rest of our group miss activities. Ship staff told us multiple different variations of how to disembark and all were incorrect. If we wouldn't have read the provided paper we would have missed our airport shuttle. At dinner we had an assigned table in the main dining room and coincided with our cabin number and a random couple took our table. We addressed it won't the dining staff who ended up letting that couple keep our table and relocate us to a different table. I was taken aback by the fact that they were permitted to stay at a table that was assigned to us. All in all, very disappointed in the experience.