Soomacdoo

Leave what? One has to wait for an assignment - can't do anything but wait.

I'd be on the phone and chasing for a cabin number. This was our first time with RC and the agent kept telling me it was normal to not have a cabin number but I've never experienced that with Cunard. The others in our group were assigned a cabin number 3 days after booking, we all booked together and also arranged to be seated together in the MDR. I'm pretty sure the cabin we eventually got was the one we should have been allocated in the first place. When we actually got into the room there was paperwork addressed to another couple, this couple had also been allocated our dining seating so they would have been sitting on a big table with my kids and grandkids, luckily they decided not to sit there so we got the seats. They probably took one look at my grandkids and decided to go somewhere quieter for dinner :D.

We booked a Guaranteed Balcony for the 3 night taster cruise on the Independence last Thursday (17th). The cabin status was GTY for 6 weeks and then 2 days before sailing we got a call to say the ship was overbooked and all that was left was an Inside cabin which we could have at a discount, or we could cancel with no charges. Our Agent made several phone calls and didn't get anywhere with RCI. I was livid to say the least, but a stroppy phone call to a call centre in America and an even stroppier email later, we got assigned a balcony on the 6th floor the very next day. After all the hassle and stress we went through, I wouldn't leave it until the last minute.

We got off the Independence this morning after doing the 3 night mini cruise. We've done quite a few Cunards but this was our first RCI and we thought as we had kids and grandkids with us this time would be a better ship to take them on. It got off to a shambolic start as 2 days before departure RCI had decided to give our balcony to someone else and they gave us an inside cabin instead. It took phone calls and email complaints to get that back. We arrived at the car park on departure day and the car park attendants wouldn't let us leave the car park, they just kept saying there was a problem in the terminal but couldn't tell us what, we ended up having to barge past as the kids were freezing (their jackets were in the luggage that had been taken away by the porters). We got to the terminal and they wouldn't let us in for an hour. Boarding of the ship was delayed because they couldn't get the previous people off, it turns out they were all at guest services complaining about being charged incorrectly. We eventually got on and the hard sell for the drinks packages started. The 3 day mini cruise was full of stag and hen parties who bought drinks packages and then were all hammered before we'd even set sail. We witnessed some shocking behaviour and language, not really what I would have expected for a family ship. We took the grandkids to play mini golf and the music that was blaring out was some rubbish with the continual lyrics of 'I'm gonna f**k you up', it was just so inappropriate when there were so many little kids running round.

Anyway the good stuff, the kids loved the mini golf, bungee trampolines, rock climbing, pools and big screen at the pool. We liked the main dining room, we had no complaints but I know a lot of others did have problems and the chef actually came out and apologised to a lot of people. The street party in the promenade on last night was really good, I'm not sure if that happens every last cruise night or whether that was just for the royal wedding. The cabins were small but they were clean and tidy.

The not so good stuff, there were a lot of dated areas of the ship. There was a lack of amenities in the room, we had to ask for everything, shower gel, conditioner, tissues etc maybe thats just an RCI thing. $9 for fish and chips - what's that all about? The Windjammer is chaos, no order to it whats so ever, and they seem to run out of a lot of the simple things like coffee, the pots were always empty.

CHECK you onboard account daily. Even with a drinks/soda package they still charge you for everything so you end up having to queue daily at guest services to get the charges removed. They kept saying it was a glitch in the new system.

Other RCI cruise regulars onboard assured me this was not a normal RCI cruise, therefore I would probably do another RCI but definitely not another mini cruise and they just seem to be full of the booze cruise brigade.

Sorry for the long post.