Me and 3 other family members sailed on RCI 'Independence of the Seas a couple of weeks ago. The best part of our cruse were all the excursions that we were able to book. I was fascinated by the sights in Rome. Im glad we didn't take our two young kids who usually travel with us because this was a more adult type cruise.

We visited ports in Spain, Italy and France. As beautiful as these countries were, the people we met there were not so friendly. Especially towards us because were are black. I would love to go visit other ports in Europe like Greece. However, we are skeptical to do so because of all the racial overtones.

Overall, I was extremely disappointed with the ship. I was told by RCI customer service rep when booking the reservations that gratuities were now mandatory by everyone and no longer optional. This was of course a lie. The ship advertised a new flowrider on board. But when we got on the ship, they were still in the process of completing the ride. The flowrider was not ready until the 6th day of cruising. I asked for a discount as a result but of course was turned down. Read more