Our trip was very adventurous to say the least . Our North West plane from Philadelphia was diverted for fuel reasons to Cleveland Ohio where 6 of us sat for three hours on the runway . Having missed the embarkation in San Juan and the first day at sea I had to really keep my attitudes and opinions in check . For those of you that have never missed the boat let me tell ya it can be ridiculously stressful. It does however give you great stories to tell for years after , more laughs than I ever expected . I called RCI the minute our plane schedule was upset and they were very sympathetic and told us getting on in Barbados would be fine and no trouble at all .So after 9 hours in Detroit we took 2 more planes and made our way to Barbados , arriving the next day at 3PM . Thank god for Marriott reward points. We did find a great family owned hotel , The Coconut Grove , and had as great a time as one can have without our luggage which North West had sent to San Juan on a plane without us . We finally recieved our luggage at 1:30 AM on Tuesday , the girls acted like it was Christmas a month early , anyhow it was an eventful begining to a very eventful vacation . Tuesday morning we headed early to the port 8 AM as we had prepaid for a snorkel excursion and had to be back out front at 9:15 . Now I don't know , trying to fly day of cruise with no insurance , because it was all my fault that we missed the boat ; but I would think that the security at the gangplank would have to be aware that anyone who missed a ship has been through a lot . As we entered the ship , security had our names on a list . I explained to the lady there that we needed to leave our bags and check in quickly as I couldn't get the $400 + we had paid for our excursion back . She said no problem it will only take a few minutes ; within 10 minutes our bags were whisked away to our staterooms (2). Than for the next 40 minutes we watched these people try to figure out the sea pass machine . Finally I said we gotta go we'll be back at 4 and the boat and the boat doesn't leave til 5:30 so since you said this only takes a few minutes an hour ago that should be plenty of time . We left 5 minutes later with our sea passes . I could have been more polite for that I'm sorry . When we finally arrived at our excursion 25 minutes late everyone , 10 others stood up and applauded . The good captain had waited! We had a great 2nd day in Barbados . Not playing with boat departure times ever again we were in our staterooms by 4:15 . We first noticed the peculiar balconies surrounded by metal and rivets. We have only been on 6 other cruises and this was our first with RCI . Usually we can talk to our connected stateroom but on RCI this is not possible . I can only explain it as it was like looking out of a portal with glass across the bottom half . Our glass was splattered all over with paint for the duration of our cruise . Cruise TV was much better than we were accustomed to . The beds were very comfy and the room was small but more than adequate . Our first night we went to Johnny Rockets and we are all big fans not having one where we live . At 6PM they stop having free ice cream and you have to buy their Ben and Jerry's . When we went back to our staterooms we noticed the brown soda ice melt glasses were still sitting on the counter , I had to take them out in the hall and ask for fresh glasses, 3 days of our 5 take a hint? We had undoubtedly been assigned to a real bumble head lazy attendant , the worst we have seen . We laughed about her all week . My father in law next door wrote his name on the dust in the mirror on the first day it was there when we left lol . From dirty towels left on the floor , dirty glasses and the never restocked mini bar , even though asked to , since it was half full in two days . We found the staff in general to be off putting or just plain rude . We just ignored it all . We were having a blast despite this ship , just being together . Everyday we had planned out so we were gone early and back late each remaining day . We felt that we were on a different schedule as everything was always closed for the first couple of hours when we'd come back in the afternoon . The only 24 hour food spot was a cafe in the promenade and it was small and packed at all times. We did see the Beatles show which was the best cruise show any of us had ever seen , Hands down! We went to the ice show after being pushed aside by a rude lady with a new york accent running for my seat next to my wife who was already sitting there , I let her have it . Stood, 5 min , not my cup of tea and left . I have seen every Disney Ice show for years and need a story to stay engaged . I'm still a kid! Love and Marriage show was a hoot , real good . Kudos to the cruise director , he's a riot ! Went to Portifino on St. Lucia night . Should have saved my money , pretentious and small portions. Didn't care for the wait staff , condescending to us . May be it's us , never thought were that classy to begin with . Two nights we went to the my time dining , this went off without a hitch . Our own 6 top with a waitress that was far and away the best we've ever seen , ran her team like a well oiled machine . They were always there , always. Food was ok , not great , but good enough. Went to Johnny Rockets last night , staff and food were again awesome . Liked the fact that you could turn your beach towels in on lido deck , our steward would have left them til they smelled like Epstein's locker . Pools and hot tubs were gorgeous and never crowded when we went . Seemed like a lot of activities to do but usually closed when we would go at night , rock climbing ,skating etc .. We just saw that we don't fit in on this boat , it must be us. Oh well . I have waited to give this review because a lot of times we were shocked , pretty much flabbergasted . Just not the cruise experience we are used to . All my bank tellers are RCI fans and they got mad when I told them we wouldn't be returning . People feel much stronger than I do . Sat with the family the other night and asked is it us or was that boat nuts . We all agreed that there were great times but that we had made them and the boat added nothing to our trip just a floating hotel with ok food , when we could stand to wait for it . After all we are definitely itinerary oriented having hit 22 different islands and counting . Maybe it was just one weak ship or maybe it was just a one lazy dirty cabin steward or maybe it was all we went through to get there and maybe the entire staff was over worked. Who knows but we won't be back and that's fine, there are too many options out there for our money . Our vacations are too precious . Going on another line , another first for us, in April! Happy Sails!