I have never been on a cruise before so I had no idea what to expect. I don't have a lot of money so I never thought I'd ever be able to afford to go on a cruise, but I was told about a £99 2 night last minute "taster" cruise on MSC Opera by a relative.
Unfortunately, it was SO last minute that I couldn't find anyone to come with me so I ended up paying £168 for sole occupancy of a twin cabin. However, I could just about manage that so I booked it.
I live close to Southampton (why does this site describe it as "London Southampton" when Southampton is 65 miles from London?) so I took the bus to Southampton then walked to the departure terminal. I love ships and boats and I'm also a keen amateur photographer and even before I got on board I was taking photos.
I was in cabin 10054 on Turandot Deck. My overall impression was of a pleasant room with twin beds pushed together into the middle of the room to make a double. I had an inside cabin, but it didn't feel claustrophobic. The toilet was clean and flushed well, the towels were adequate. The shower cubicle was a bit small, but the shower pressure was good and the water was nice and hot. Shower gel and shampoo were available in push button dispensers on the wall. I didn't need the bathrobe - good job because I couldn't find it! The wardrobe and drawer space was adequate for me for two nights, but if there had been two of us for longer it might have been a bit of a squeeze. The air conditioning had a good range of settings. I could hear the engine as a continuous rumble, but that was soothing and the ship creaked a bit - but then it's a ship so that's to be expected and I didn't mind. However, I found that at 2 am it sounded as though someone was moving heavy furniture in an adjoining cabin with lots of crashing and bumping and sliding which went on for about half an hour. I'm not sure whether it was cleaning staff changeover because I was almost by the exit corridor and I couldn't tell from what direction it was coming, but it happened both nights at the same time.