This was our 8th cruise, our first with Royal Caribbean. All other cruises were with P&O, but we saw this cruise advertised way back in May 2004 and were attracted by the price, the itinerary and the Royal Family Suite which can sleep up to 8 people. There were 8 of us in our party. Myself, husband, two children aged 12 and 13 and my mother (we had the family suite) and my friend and her two children aged 12 and 7 who had a superior interior cabin on deck 8.

Having seen some fairly average to poor reviews prior to sailing we were beginning to regret the decision to change from P&O, but the cruise was paid for so we decided to make the most of it.

On the morning of sailing, we arrived early at Southampton, drove straight in to the carpark (we had free parking), luggage porters removed our cases from the car and walked the 100 yards to the departure lounge. 15 minutes later ( we had priority embarkation as we were in a suite) we were sitting in the sunshine on deck 9 outside the Windjammer cafe. Our friend and her children joined us 20 minutes later. Lunch was available from 11.30 in the self service Windjammer restaurant and our anxieties about poor food quality evaporated. Cabins were available from 1pm and suitcases arrived shortly after. We were unpacked by 2.30, about the time P&O start boarding and it felt like we had gained an extra day's holiday. The family suite was amazing. It wasn't luxurious in the P&O Suite sense, but enormous. One big bedroom with an ensuite that could be separated from the other side of the cabin, a smaller bedroom that could sleep three people comfortably and a large lounge area that had a sofa that converted to a bed at night. It did show it's age in some areas but they were constantly upgrading and refurbishing areas of the ship. There was another bathroom for this side of the cabin and a large balcony. The interior room was very similar to P&O cabins but much larger. Whilst on board the setee and chair were removed for a day to be recovered and reupholstered! Read more