Having been on the larger, Voyager Class RC ships and more than satisfied, I was greatly disappointed by the selection of food on the Brilliance of the Seas. I mean Meat Loaf as the only thing at a carving station and Cheese Raviolis as the Chef's Special in the Dining Room? The only thing rare about the beef was how often they served it. It was on par with a school cafeteria. No I take that back, at least a cafeteria changes every day. Embarassing and by weeks end a near mutiny. Thank God for Chops and Portofino, the extra charge restaurants.

Service was very good and so was the food prep so its a shame if the service people suffered on tips because of the terrible food selections and very negative reaction from the guests. The quality of selection was as cheap as I have ever seen.
Funny (not really) but when I waited for 1/2 hour to get my turn to complain at the Customer Service Desk the response was "Listen, you think the food is bad? You should see what we have to eat". Unreal!

Customer Service does not return calls or letters and in one way or another, 3 different travel agents have told me "They are busy and just don't care".
Sad.

So, as I look to book a group trip for 2005 I cannot get a return call to just tell me this will not happen again. Result? why pay Royal Caribbean prices for Carnival quality?

I read a tightening to improve profits and a customer service incapable of handling the problems.

At the least, get menu copies upfront, if not for future trips then recent past ones. Most other cruise lines offer them and if RC doesn't I suggest there is a reason why.

My advice... stay away from Royal Caribbean. They simply don't care.