Our 5th cruise and our first with Royal Caribbean......it will also be our last cruise with them. Our total cost for two with a balcony but no drinks package was just over £3000 for 10 nights inc a night in a Southampton hotel. We could have got a superb 5 star holiday for that, instead we got a 3 star cruise around the Channel and North Atlantic with very very little time ashore due to the ridiculous itinerary ie just 4 hours at Lanzarote and 5 hours at Vigo. Things didn't start well with one of our suitcases arriving minutes before the first evening meal. It's supposed to be a 4 star ship but food is 3 stars at best in both main Sapphire restaurant and Windjammer. The latter is a buffet and the food was the same almost every day. I have had much better cakes from UK supermarkets! The food in the main restaurant is well presented but mostly small portions and with little veg. You can have steak ie"Aged New York Strip Steak" but it's a tiny portion and might even be re-constituted. You want sure and turf? You have to buy it at $40 a pop! The desserts are a huge disappointment and basically pimped up mousses - that Is what you get if you order tiramisu or key lime pie. Baked Alaska is not what it should be either. Seems the chefs can't make Yorkshire puddings or meringues.

The entertainment was mixed, two good acts in female vocalist and comic but the other 8 nights were fillers- dancers, singers and novelty acts of the kind you would not dream of paying to see. The blurb mentions ice skating "shows".... Well there is only one show in 10 days. It is good but surely they could use that venue more? The films they show for free are 1-2 years old because they want you to buy movies to watch in your room. The Internet is an outrageous -$59 per 24 hours and no you can't have less hours and a lower price.

Poor or was it deliberate censored information on the free port shuttle buses at Santa Cruz and Arrecife ? ( well they do want you to buy the coach trips you know!) we did buy coach trips for Lanzarote and Vigo but as the ship was only in port just a few hours these were rushed to make sure we got back in time. The ship was very full with just over 3,000 passengers. This caused huge problems on the days when the ship was at sea as there is just not enough space for everyone in the dining rooms, buffets and bars. We found no seat in any bar on the first three nights as we were on the early dinner sitting. Read more