Boarded the brand new Emerald Sky at Basel (Switzerland) for a cruise to Amsterdam. A few teething problems with a new boat that might not be solved very quick.

Some of us never received luggage tags or the fancy folder before traveling, hence not much information. On arrival at the airport, went out the nearest door to find nobody to meet us, eventually we found somebody after asking at information (not a good start).

We booked this boat because of the heated indoor pool & booked the nearest cabin we could to have regular use. Unfortunately it was not working !!! can you imagine Royal Caribbean launching a new boat the swimming pool not working !!! they offered us wine & beer, which was included at meal times anyway & still charged for the mini bar & as the wife does not drink, we would have rather had the pool. The cruise director is the only person employed by Emerald, the rest of the staff are agency contractors. The service from the agency staff was superb & can not be faltered, the cruise director tried very hard but did not have a natural ability although most of the passengers liked her. Read more