Family of 4, with two boys aged 11 and 9 on The Italian Mediterranean cruise. First time cruisers; enjoyed it but a very mixed experience... Here's why:

Of course, the boat itself is extremely nice. The rooms are very well-equipped, better than we expected. The beds are excellent, the shower is good, our room was very quiet. The bathroom is tiny but all things considered the room was a big plus. The public areas are very nice and everything is kept very clean. Absolutely cannot fault the staff; very hard-working nice people, with few exceptions. All good so far. Excellent facilities. Amazing theatre, ice rink, climbing wall, flow-rider etc... Very impressive.

Food. It's OK. Plenty of it, as you'd expect, and it's pretty clear that's a (very) big attraction for a lot of people onboard....but don't get carried away; it's not top-notch. The main dining dinner often wasn't very hot. 4,300 guests, so what would we reasonably expect given the food isn't made to order?! Considering the massive scale of the food operation it was good, just don't expect better than that. Strangely we thought the Windjammer buffet often had hotter fresher food. There's so many people eating in there that no food lasts long and it's replaced very quickly. The other side of that is it helps to be a rugby player to get to the front. There are several hundred people in there at the busiest times, and it's a scrum around the food. Of course if you want to eat yourself into oblivion, you're in the right place.... Read more