Boudicca Review

4.0 / 5.0
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In search of the Northern Lights - poor value for money

Review for the Baltic Sea Cruise on Boudicca
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lightfield
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Mar 2013
Cabin: Superior Outside Cabin - B

Just returned from my first and probably last cruise. Norway itself, the scenery, the inner passage and most of the tours were wonderful, unfortunately the cruise experience itself was not good -- particularly due to the poor condition of our 'superior' outside cabin and the fear of contracting norovirus (almost half of the passengers came down with it). In addition the only reason for us going on this cruise was to see the northern lights and we were disgusted that more was not done by the ship to assist us in this aim.

CABIN. (Superior outside, deck 5). Reasonable size. Condition poor. It may have been 'superior' 20 years ago but is decrepit and rather dingy now. Dread to think how we would have coped if we had contracted norovirus and been banged up in it for 4 days, as some folk were (you had to stay in your cabin for the length of the illness + a further 48 hours after the last symptoms occurred). Rather like living in an old run down caravan that someone else has had the sense to scrap.

NOROVIRUS. The ship blamed the passengers for bringing this on board and for spreading it. No responsibility was taken for the fact that the previous cruise had also suffered from norovirus and only a few hours were devoted to carrying out a 'deep' clean before we boarded. There was no way that sufficient time was allowed to effectively clean the ship before we boarded -- were the carpets steam cleaned and the curtains and bedspreads all washed? No. I am certain this virus was present on the ship (carried on fittings and in the ventilation system) when we boarded and this was the major cause of our outbreak.

Cabin Review

Superior Outside Cabin - B

Cabin size was reasonable. Storage space ok, although one wardrobe wasted space on what the cabin stewardess told us was a hanger for ties! This would have been much more useful as extra shelving.

The condition of the cabin was poor, it reminded me of one of those holiday camp chalets I went to as a child. It was rather dilapidated, dingy and a bit grubby. The carpet, curtains and bedspreads had all seen better days a long time ago. The picture window was quite small and dirty.

Bathroom was tiny, only one small shelf for toiletries, no bath and the shower curtain touched the toilet.

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