SPS

Mmmmmm.... jerk kelp.

Well, they are on the beach, so it's obviously dried seaweed for recipes. 😉

Well, they are on the beach, so it's obviously dried seaweed for recipes. 😉

Well, they are on the beach, so it's obviously dried seaweed for recipes. 😉

This is a very confusing sentence.

Well, they are on the beach, so it's obviously dried seaweed for recipes. 😉

Your time is what you make of it - and if you say you had a poor experience, you have to assume some of that blame.
Saying things like "no one could tell me how the dining package worked" tells me that you weren't asking the right people.  Did you even look in your app?  I find that to be very self explanatory for booking shows and dining venues once on board.
Yes, pools are crowded.  Yes, chairs are hard to come by.  Did you try the solarium?  Did you wake up early to stake your claim on the chairs? (its all part of the game)
Cabin steward harassed you about muster?  It sounds like you didn't follow instructions, didn't watch the videos, and didn't check in at your station.  The cabin steward came to your room to ensure compliance per Coast Guard regulations.  The ship can't leave without muster being performed for all guest.  You should have been scolded, not praised for waiting to be tracked down for that.
Did you review the Cruise Compass paper that was left in your stateroom to tell you what was going on and when?  Yes, bars fill up on sea days for trivia and in the evenings for sing-alongs.  Theatres get busy (but your reserve a show so you get a seat) and if you want a good place to watch the show, arrive early.  But unless you are sitting behind a support column, you aren't really going to have a terrible seat.  Arriving early is part of the game...get a drink and talk to others.  Be a traveler, not a tourist.
St. Thomas cruise port - yeah, its a pier with some shops...about 1/3 of which are shuttered.  But you failed to mention whether you left the pier, hopped a taxi and explored.  If you took an excursion here and had a bad experience, did you talk to the excursion folks and inquire about a refund?
Unless there was a crew switch-over in 3 weeks on the Harmony, I find your comments hard to believe.  On the Jun 5-12 sailing, I found the staff to be friendly, courteous, and happy.  They often went out of their way to engage me.  Now maybe I have a bit more experience understanding the personalities that tend to be attached to folks that come from SE Asia and India from my decades of working with folks from that part of the globe, but they went out of their way to engage me.  Courtesy is a two-way street.  If you smile, say hello and ask how their day is, you become one of those people they engage with.  If you bark out your order and don't say "please" and "thank you", then you get what you give.  
As far as Sorrento's, I find the line to move fast, the pizza to be decent (for quick service on a cruise ship) and the staff to be as courteous as needed for slinging pizza to thousands of guests a day.  
All in all, sounds like you may be a little reserved in nature, perhaps a little shy.  Sounds like you had expectations of a all-inclusive, wait on you hand-and-foot experience that cruise lines like RCCL do not provide.  I would hate to cruise solo on my 1st cruise with no friends / family with me (as an experienced cruiser, solo might be alright [don't tell the wife 😄]), especially if I were not an outgoing person.

I think what you are looking for can be found in this thread. (EDIT: Looks like @KristiZ beat me to the post by a minute. 😄)
 

From our personal experiences, Dunn's River Falls in Jamaica and taxi drivers in Nassau, Bahamas. (I don't need a ride to anywhere! I just got back from somewhere else on the island!)
After being to these two ports, I found that vendors in St. Thomas and St. Kitts don't seem to be pushy at all!

Good morning everyone.  I am a real bearded Santa, and will be taking Mrs Clause on a well deserved birthday vacation on the Symphony of the Seas Sept. 3.

I know RC is very family / kid oriented and I expect the ship to have kids on board, but since it is sailing Sept 3 (Labor day weekend) on a 7 day cruise - any idea on how many?

Reason I ask is I always carry "I was caught being good" coins with me to hand out to kids that kinda / sorta / maybe think its really Santa, but are not quite sure 🙂  Love giving them the coin and going Shhhhhhh 🙂

I just want to make sure I have enough with me.

Thanks in advance.

Santa John

Is it true there are monkeys on St. Kitts that will steal you unattended alcoholic drinks?  If this is true, I wonder why Royal Caribbean hasn't monetized it yet. Maybe sell an excursion where you can drink with the monkeys. Who wants to swim with the dolphins when you can get wasted with a monkey. 

Ah, just wrap the car in lots of bubble wrap and you'll both be fine! LOL! So how much did your foot hurt from constantly hitting an invisible brake pedal on the passenger side?
I actually envy those on this site that live within a reasonable driving distance of a port (or even several ports). I would LOVE to not have to fly every time we cruise. If we ever decide to cruise out of Baltimore again (9 hours) or Cape Liberty (10 hours), I'm definitely going to consider driving.
But, like it's been said so many times before, don't chance flying in day of, ESPECIALLY right now with air travel being in such utter disarray.

Ah, just wrap the car in lots of bubble wrap and you'll both be fine! LOL! So how much did your foot hurt from constantly hitting an invisible brake pedal on the passenger side?
I actually envy those on this site that live within a reasonable driving distance of a port (or even several ports). I would LOVE to not have to fly every time we cruise. If we ever decide to cruise out of Baltimore again (9 hours) or Cape Liberty (10 hours), I'm definitely going to consider driving.
But, like it's been said so many times before, don't chance flying in day of, ESPECIALLY right now with air travel being in such utter disarray.

Ah, just wrap the car in lots of bubble wrap and you'll both be fine! LOL! So how much did your foot hurt from constantly hitting an invisible brake pedal on the passenger side?
I actually envy those on this site that live within a reasonable driving distance of a port (or even several ports). I would LOVE to not have to fly every time we cruise. If we ever decide to cruise out of Baltimore again (9 hours) or Cape Liberty (10 hours), I'm definitely going to consider driving.
But, like it's been said so many times before, don't chance flying in day of, ESPECIALLY right now with air travel being in such utter disarray.

According to google maps from my house in Chicago to PortMiami if I were to drive it would take me 21 hours and 27 minutes. Your post peaked my interest seeing that I've never driven to Florida and I was hoping it would fall within the 18 hours you prescribed.  However at over 21 hours I just can't see myself spending that amount of time behind the wheel of a car and it would be me driving because my husband is the worst driver I've ever met.  I let him drive once on our way to Wisconsin Dells we didn't even make to past O'Hare before I made him get off the expressway so we could switch. I don't know how some people got a driver license.

Anything with Chambord blackberry liqueur.
I don't remember it having a specific name, but a Schooner Bar bartender on Rhapsody (Adrian) made my wife a delicious cocktail that consisted of the following:
Absolut Vanilla, Chambord, Lemon Juice, Simple Syrup, Cranberry Juice, and Strawberry Puree. 

I got to meet and talk with Michael Bayley last week. The President of our company is so nice!
 
As you can imagine he is a very busy man, so I couldn't speak to him for too long, but thankful he wanted to be in my vlog.
 
 

Here is a quick screenshot from a room tour video by@CHRIS WONG when he was employed on Odyssey during 2021-2022. Both North American and European plugs along with USBs at the desk. (While waiting for Odyssey to be put back in service and clear quarantine, the crew used guest balcony rooms)
FYI: There are also plugs on the right side of the bed and the room phone on the left side of the bed has a USB port.

Perhaps I'm missing something, but I don't understand the intense level of negativity of some reviews. I spent many years unable to enjoy "luxury" vacations and now, as I am finally able to pursue my love of cruising, I try to look for the best in every cruise I take. Not every ship is for every traveler. Some want the bells and whistles, some want more intimacy. Bashing one ship or another because it doesn't meet your expectations seems pointless. I've seen many complain about the smaller, older ships yet my husband and I LOVE the smaller, older ships. We don't care if the wood trim is a bit outdated, if the furniture shows a bit of wear, or if there's no ice-skating rink or extravaganza-type entertainment. We get that these smaller ships are not for everyone, but I don't understand the hostility in some reviews. On the flip side, we hate the mega-ships with their millions of bells and whistles, but just because those ships are not for us doesn't mean they aren't great for those who are seeking that kind of vacation.
There are folks who have legitimate complaints - issues arise and when they do they should be addressed and rectified as best as possible - but in reading some of the things people say, I get the impression that they will look for fault everywhere. Those folks will never be satisfied. When I'm on a ship, I'm not sitting in my own living room, I'm not sitting in traffic, I'm not being bombarded by news and media all day long, and I can forget the world for just a little bit. To me, that's everything. It doesn't have to be perfect. The crew works hard under very difficult conditions. I appreciate that and try to be kind in my interactions with them. I give extra tips even though tips are already included in most things. Bottom line is, I get back what I put in to my vacation.
Just my two cents.

Oh boy. A lot of red flags here that make me not believe the OP.
The comedian only does "adult stuff" and was forced into doing a family show? Never seen  a comic onboard that only does "adults only" shows. (Doesn't all booked talent "audition" for Nick Weir and/or his staff to be contracted? Surely, they would know what is expected of them before getting the job.)
The bartender pulled out a "separate bottle" from under the bar after being tipped? If you only knew how many new, sealed bottles of liquor have been opened right in front of my eyes! 😄
What kind of prize do you really expect for winning a trivia game? It's ALWAYS been highlighters, key chains, pens, and recently the "bag in a bag" shopping bags. Nothing of great value, just mementos.

I'm really sorry to hear this. My wife needs to eat gluten free (not Celiac, but extremely gluten sensitive) and has, thankfully, never had any issues with the MDR staff providing gluten free options and losing her next evening's order. I'm going to guess this might be a new/inexperienced staff issue, possibly combined with the current problems of ships being understaffed and/or overwhelmed by increased guest capacities. (Understandable, but, still not acceptable for anyone with severe food allergies, obviously.)

Oh boy. A lot of red flags here that make me not believe the OP.
The comedian only does "adult stuff" and was forced into doing a family show? Never seen  a comic onboard that only does "adults only" shows. (Doesn't all booked talent "audition" for Nick Weir and/or his staff to be contracted? Surely, they would know what is expected of them before getting the job.)
The bartender pulled out a "separate bottle" from under the bar after being tipped? If you only knew how many new, sealed bottles of liquor have been opened right in front of my eyes! 😄
What kind of prize do you really expect for winning a trivia game? It's ALWAYS been highlighters, key chains, pens, and recently the "bag in a bag" shopping bags. Nothing of great value, just mementos.

I use Air tags in my luggage but you have to take the results with a large grain of salt or in my case large amounts of salt water since that is where the Air tags made it appear my luggage was as I boarded a cruise in Seattle.  

 
Air tags have no GPS chip or transmitter in them.  They rely on a connected host device to detect the Air tag and based on that devices GPS fix it assumes the Air tag is close by.  If the host device that an Air tag connects to doesn't have a very good GPS fix the Air tag doesn't reflect that as in the case above when 5 minutes later my luggage was delivered to my cabin on the ship.  If I had gone to the small marina next door and confronted some random sailboat owner looking for my luggage I would have been disappointed.
 

Oh boy. A lot of red flags here that make me not believe the OP.
The comedian only does "adult stuff" and was forced into doing a family show? Never seen  a comic onboard that only does "adults only" shows. (Doesn't all booked talent "audition" for Nick Weir and/or his staff to be contracted? Surely, they would know what is expected of them before getting the job.)
The bartender pulled out a "separate bottle" from under the bar after being tipped? If you only knew how many new, sealed bottles of liquor have been opened right in front of my eyes! 😄
What kind of prize do you really expect for winning a trivia game? It's ALWAYS been highlighters, key chains, pens, and recently the "bag in a bag" shopping bags. Nothing of great value, just mementos.