Garnet21

These two posts above are completely contradictory.
I have to completely agree with @Garnet21 here.  I am in no way saying that what you observed is acceptable but you were on a cruise that departed from China.  Obviously, there would be many Chinese people there with their own cultural differences.  That being said, I myself am I huge germaphobe, and knowing that, there are places in the world that I would never consider visiting because of cultural differences and what is considered acceptable hygiene.  But that choice is my own, and if I were to go willingly, then I would have to tolerate the differences in cultures.
As far as enforcing any rules, as noted on many other threads, even the enforcing of dress codes in the MDR and hand washing is quite relaxed.  It would be difficult to implement rules on this one.
No one here works for RC either.  We are just a community of people who love RC or want to learn more about RC.  Writing to RC directly or noting your concerns on your post cruise survey might be more constructive.
And this is the bottom line right here. 

Spitting in public is very common place in China and some other Asian countries. It's a behavior that is ingrained in many people.  You were on a cruise from China to HK so you should expect the ship is going to tolerate the  local  sensibilities.  I am not saying that it isn't a health concern or seriously off putting to Westerners, but I really don't think RC could stop it from happening.    If you are going to service that market,  you would have a very tough time trying to  impose strict rules and impose fines on passengers.  

Cruise ships charge VAT tax when in port and probably within a certain distance of a port that they stop in.  I am not sure about the law when you are just "driving by".  The VAT rate varies between countries and can vary for different services, ie there may be a lower rate for food than for watches.  No business is allowed to eat sales tax.  They are required to collect it by law.  IF a business wants to give you a discount to negate that fee, that amount of money will come out of their revenues, not from  the taxes that are collected. 

Spitting in public is very common place in China and some other Asian countries. It's a behavior that is ingrained in many people.  You were on a cruise from China to HK so you should expect the ship is going to tolerate the  local  sensibilities.  I am not saying that it isn't a health concern or seriously off putting to Westerners, but I really don't think RC could stop it from happening.    If you are going to service that market,  you would have a very tough time trying to  impose strict rules and impose fines on passengers.  

indeed, as to Charleston, SC - we live 2 hours south - so would definitely sail from there - Grandeur does come in as a day stop;  we cannot bring ourselves to try Carnavel - haha

FWIW, on Rhapsody of the Seas this past March the flyer did indicate the "1 espresso shot per hole punch"

I agree, but I find RC's site lacks a lot of info that I would consider important/helpful.  

Not worth it in my opinion. 

Sorry to hear about these issues that ruined your Western Mediterranean cruise aboard the Symphony of the Seas.  My family (wife & kids 15/13) cruised on the pre-inaugural Mar 31st cruise and had didn't experience most (if any) of your issues.  
Our room steward was great and removed items once used throughout the day.  
We missed any open skating time (not sure there was any) due to port intensive cruise and two fewer days.  
My wife and I enjoyed the Laser Tag (she won); however, someone lost an earring when they removed the target vest.  We helped them look for a minute, but moved on without a resolution to the situation.  Also, we were denied admission towards the end of an earlier session since they had enough players to finish the session.  It takes them an hour to an hour and a half to deflate the walls and clean up the room.  We made sure that we had enough time the next night.
The Voom was great everywhere I used it onboard.  I understand we still had RCI corporate staff aboard to help out with any issues that came up.  You could see them everywhere around the ship from all different departments checking on things.
The escape room was still under construction but I was allowed a peak inside.  Also, the solarium pool was closed as they were still installing the art feature (lights) above it.  I felt the water (warm, but not hot) and it felt fine for sitting in water and talking to others (isn't that what happens in the adult pool anyway?).  No biggie, we were on the first cruise and expected some incomplete venues or areas.
The food was well, Royal Caribbean standard fare.  We wen't disappointed or wowed either.  I liked the eggs to order station in the middle of the Windjammer and visited it regularly.  My wife and I went to Hooked for lunch and it was good but the service was better.  Our evening in Izumi was nice as we meet friends of royalcaribbeanblog (from England) and talked with Chef Ken (owner of the Izumi chain) and had a picture taken.  The kids didn't have much (I forget that 'hot rocks' aren't on the menu when Hibachi is available) to choose from, but that was my mistake.  The main dining room head chef and sous chef even asked us specific questions about our meals the first two nights.
Yes, the ship had the 'new ship smell' (carpet) and everything was clean.  We even saw the first black mark along the dock bumpers in port at Naples ?
Can't speak to the wine or spirits available or service as we don't drink that much.  What service we encountered fpr our non-alcoholic drinks was fine.  Oh, the coca-cola self service machine near Loco Fresh wasn't working all too well.  It kept saying that I had to come back in 30 minutes or something.  I just went to a bar or another coca-cola machine.
Guest services was helpful and even asked to see pictures from our upcoming excursion in Naples.  I didn't bother her with them, but I thought it was a nice thing to say.  Using the TV to check your charges can be difficult (especially with two rooms).  We were going to try and get our Spanish VAT refunded at the airport, so Royal Caribbean had to credit the multiple charges then combine them into one to meet the minimum amount for refund.  Seeing all of that on our TV was very difficult to add up.  It all worked out; however, we didn't have enough time at the airport to go through the multiple steps to get our refund.  It was a minor cost to us getting Business Class on the non-stop back to JFK vs missing the flight.  Kids loved the seats so they are officially spoiled now.
I can remember that the vibe onboard was different than our normal experiences during caribbean cruises.  I just chalked that up to the european market, time of year (cooler weather) and international makeup of guests.  Americans were definitely the minority.  We didn't see much night life except for the bands playing in the Promenade (a little too loud to carry a conversation in the Next Cruise office) in the evening.
 
We loved the ship, crew and overall experience.  Also, were booked on the inaugural Western Caribbean 7-day cruise in Nov2018 and can't wait (just like so many other RLCblog group cruisers).  The weather was comfortable (60 - low 70's F) and without rain, port experience was nice and we enjoyed our two excursions.   We plan on taking another mediterranean cruise just as soon as we check off some others on our bucket list.   
As stated earlier, I regret your negative experiences and hope the positive ones out weight those others in time.  Ours were just different...
 

This is not related specifically to Royal Caribbean, but can certainly be helpful to everyone, especially when flying to your port of departure.  We have had great success using a site called buyreservations.com   We have used them several times over the past few years and have always been pleased.  
They give you options for hotels that provide a room, parking and airport/cruiseport shuttle package. In our case, it usually comes out less costly than booking through the hotel directly and also less than other sites we have looked at. Most times we have paid approximately $150 for a package including a one night stay (the night before the cruise or vacation destination), parking, round trip shuttle and, in some cases, continental breakfast. We have stayed in Embassy Suites or Wyndham properties. The included parking is usually 7-10 days with very reasonable daily rates for excess days.
Most parking alone can be $20+ a day, so with everything else that is included, I think this is a great value. Prices vary by city and there may be several cities not serviced, but it is certainly worth your time to check.
Sorry if this sounds like an ad---that is not my intention. It’s just that we used them again today and thought it may be of help to all.

Welcome to the message boards!
I've cruised on Anthem 3 times from Bayonne and blogged about them in the live blog section of this message boards.  I posted about the self assist experience on two of those live blogs.  
I'm an early riser so getting up early to secure a spot near the start of the self assist line comes naturally to me.  
The line will begin forming before or by 6am.  It's up to customs when they start letting people off.  The ship may be tied up well before 7am but it's completely in the hands of US Customs.  
I took Lyft on both occasions except to the airport (EWR) instead of the train.  Pretty easy experience.  
I'm on Adventure of the Seas next week when the ship repositions to Bayonne and I may live blog again including self assist disembarking.  Keep an eye on the live blog section.  

Here we go again. Islandwide.  Not sure if anyone is heading there to pick up a ship this weekend. I keep praying for these people. 

It's sad that at age 24, this young man felt he needed to make such a tragic choice.  

It's sad that at age 24, this young man felt he needed to make such a tragic choice.  

Does it still have that new ship smell? ?

Day  -2
Well after few months it is time again for funny spelling mistakes/bad grammar and near real time blog.
If everything will be ok and nothing  change our flight we will be on the Symphony Of The Seas at this Saturday from Barcelona.
So why this ship ? – really should I explain why one wants to go on Symphony ? ?
Actually, when the first itineraries were published we already booked a cruise for September time but six weeks ago we decided we need some extra vacation until September, we thought first to travel to Thailand for some land vacation but after checking the April/May weather over therel we dropped this idea.
I started to look for April  cruises and I preferred something around Europe to shorten the flight  time , apparently the only available ship was the SyOTC , so well we decided to volunteer and as  @Matt says : do it for the research.
For sure I have not canceled the September cruise as I believe it’s going to be two different experiences.
Europe April Weather  can be still cold and rainy while  September weather will be much warmer (in Italy too warm) so we are planning to focus  doing internal ship activities and some shore excursions while in September focus on other stuff like the water slides and water activities.
Another difference  is that for this cruise we booked Ocean view room as I do not think we would use the balcony too much (too cold) while in September we do have a balcony.
Here is the itinerary: (this is the third time we are doing the same one with Harmony OTS and Liberty)
Day -1 – Barcelona (getting to the hotel and find a nice Tapas restaurant)
Day 1 – Barcelona (We have BOGO deal)
Day 2 – Palma de Mallorca, we will take the bus to the city see what is new.
Day 3 -  Marseilles , we took a  ship tour around the city ,  last time we went on a  tour  to one of the small cities in Provence  .
Day 4 - Florence/Pisa (La Spezia) – We will stay around la Spezia which is a nice small city , Florence is quite far and we already have a tour booked  for the next cruise to visit Florence. I guess we will do some of the shopping there (wine, Balsamic vinegar and yes maybe shoes)
Day 5 - Rome (Civitavecchia) – We have a ship  tour that will transfer us to Rome , we will have around 6 hour to tour Romr  by ourselves , since we already been to Rome (land tours) I think we can find our way. I took the ship transfer to make sure we will be back on time, train and buses can be delayed from time to time.
Day 6-  Naples (Capri) – We did not plan what to do there yet , we might take the bicycle tour if the weather will be nice or just go off the ship and tour the city (by tour the city I acutely mean go to eat a pizza ? ) . From all the ports of call this one is the closet to the city center, walking distance .
 
So tomorrow early morning we are planning to catch the train to the airport (15 minutes) and start our journey to Barcelona (the flight will be via Rome which is funny consider our itinerary, but it was very cheap comparing to the direct flight, so cheap that it would not make sense to use miles).
Drinking – No drinking package this time, we will bring two bottles of wines  and we are planning to buy drinks from time to time (it is a very heavy port itinerary and they want 49 $ per day for the package ).
Special restaurants – We got the BOGO first two night restaurants , I hope one of them will be Hooked and will try Wonderland (even if we need to add some money) but almost everything will be nice, but must have Hooked at least one time to write a report for the blog.
Please feel free to ask questions or ask me to take  pictures of certain things on the ship, I will try to bring as much information as I can.
My partner finally got her SLR camera back from where we left it last time (long story) so maybe we can have some better pictures (although still it is a basic SLRs).
 
Tomorrow Barcelona
 

 
 Hey , you do not need to buy me ticket , I will be in the suitcase , no one will notice 
 
 
 
 
 

It would depend on how many are ahead of you on the wait list.  It's at the point of final payment so you should hear something soon... I would call daily to check your status.

Not sure about the individual you are talking about but it probably got removed from CC if you mentioned FB. That's a no-no over there.
I would be suspicious too if I were you. I have joined FB groups too for sailings. Not many but a few. But all of the ones I have joined were created by people from the CC roll call who were also on the sailing.

I feel everyone's pain, I've got such a long wait between cruises.  I'm at least 17 days from the single digit dance.

You're not crazy to travel alone at all.

@Garnet21, I think this is AWESOME!! You go and have a great time!  

Garnet21,
I have been a solo cruiser for the last 10 years and I love it. I love the meeting of new people (friends) when eating in the MDR. I have met so many people that I still keep in contact with and have even cruised with again. The only problem I have found is one cruise I was seated with a family. Everyone there was related in one way or another and I was the only oddball, so I asked the maitre'd to switch me to another table and it was perfect. I don't want to sit alone, I want to mingle and talk. My last cruise, a few weeks ago, I was the only woman with five men, that one was fun. 
Give it a try, I think you will enjoy yourself. 

I cruise solo often, just came off 10 days on Serenade. 
Do you have fixed time dining or my time dining?  With my time I always get my own table but its usually very close to other couples.  Last week I shared a bottle of wine with the couple next to me.  A lot depends how social the other people are.  With fixed time dining you may be at a table with several other couples.  Talk to the maître'd and they may be able to accommodate what ever you are looking for.
My live blog from was last week is here:
 
 

I would put my adventure hat on, go, and have a good time. I have traveled quite a bit, sometimes with my wife, sometimes alone. I just enjoy both, the people you meet, and the new sights and sounds. Enjoy, sit with a group at dinner, no one is going to not want you there. You'll have a ball

That's correct, we ate there for our last night on Allure in October, the only problem was that I was on food overload by the last night and while the food had good flavor I didn't really eat very much, I would probably go eat there again but move it up in the week.
All the meat had excellent flavor and was really tender, typical Brazilian steak house, they just cut you off a few slivers for you to try.

I read that if you think you only want to order for one, order for two because they basically only bring you coffee and danish for 1 person, which the blog post said equated out to one cup of coffee in the carafe,