Not my experience at all. I worked there for 4 years in the 90s and really enjoyed it - and the people were lovely. It also has fantastic sport facilities.
The point, I think, is that we are impotent. SISU hold all the strings and if they decide to damn us (or to starve us by neglect) then that is what will happen.
We did this last year. Lisbon is a wonderful city and worth visiting. My advice is to avoid Royal Caribbean; everything is done on the cheap and the boat is jammed packed with overweight drunk men and kids running around unsupervised.