I have just returned from a cruise in the Eastern caribbean with Royal Caribbean and never again, which is a shame as the ship itself and the crew were absolutely fantastic. My complaints are about the charging policies of the company. Firstly I bought the drinks package which was labelled as the "Ultimate Package" at $55 per person for the week. Nowhere in the adverts for this package does it point out that there is a compulsory 15% gratuity added on so the drinks package is therefore $63.25 per person. What rubbed salt into the wound was the fact that every time I went to the bar despite me signing a chit that said $0 for the gratuity $12 was added each time thus bringing the total gratuities up to $199. I tried to get the gratuities taken off my bill, they refused to remove the one that came with the package but did remove the individual ones. This is despite the fact that I tipped the people who served me anyway as I always do.

What they also neglect to tell you is that despite the fact there is a very extensive wine list in the restaurant only approximately 10% of the wines listed are actually available as they will only let you have the ones which are advertised by the glass. After creating a great fuss they finally allowed me to have a bottle that was not listed by the glass as long as we finished the bottle. This was not a problem and was no different to what we have done on any other ship so I did not understand the reason for this policy in the first place. If I had not got very angry I doubt if my complaint would have been listened to. Once again the staff in the restaurant came up trumps and used common sense to overcome Royal Caribbean's idiotic policies.

The price of wi-fi on the boat was also extortionate. For one hour on the ship I can get 3 months at home and one week's wi-fi was the same as 3 years of my home wi-fi. Does anyone use it? Read more