Bombay1

That is my point exactly. The cost cutting was evident to me in small ways that did not have a profound effect on my cruise, but they were noticeable and as a cruise consumer that is concerning to me. It was also noticeable that the main dining room had a lot of empty tables as the week went on. That should be concerning to the executives at RC. There was one night that our waiter said he did not have one table occupied in his section for the 8:30 seating. Yikes.

We just returned from a Western Med cruise on the Symphony of the Seas. We had a great time. We are Platinum, so we have been on several RC cruises over the years for comparison purposes. Our waiter and assistant waiter were wonderful, so this in no way is a reflection of the service that we received from them. We have read recent reviews about the decline in the food quality in the main dining room and had a similar experience. Creme Brulee was "soupy" instead of firm and creamy, "Jumbo" shrimp that would only look jumbo if you were looking at them under a microscope (our waiter even warned us with a good laugh as we ordered them that they were the saddest excuse of a "Jumbo" shrimp that he has ever seen), ceasar salad with the smallest, saddest looking croutons you have ever seen, etc. My wife ordered coffee with her dessert on the first night. Normally I would expect to see a cup of coffee presented on a saucer. Not this year, it is delivered in a standard cafe/truck stop coffee mug. The kicker for me was when she opened the container with the sugar packets we found that it was mostly full of sugar packets from the International House of Pancakes ("IHOP") ! Seriously, Royal Caribbean? You think that you are paying for a "premium" mid-range cruse experience and they are serving sugar packets that someone pocketed while visiting an IHOP?? This really put me off. I joked the rest of the cruise that they should change the name of their new ship from Icon of the Seas to IHOP of the Seas! Come on, Royal Caribbean, you're better than that! I did include this in my post cruise survey.

Thank you for the info. Very helpful. I also found the article on the blog regarding using your phone on the ship.

I'm not as old as I may sound in this post, so bear with me . We will be on the Harmony of the Seas next week. We have the "voom" internet package for ourselves and our two sons. I know that they will want to talk to their significant others who will not be with us while we are on the ship. Are there no phone charges/fees (charged by either your phone carrier or the cruise ship) if you use Facetime? There would be charges if you just called home directly with your cell phone, correct?