Having gotten married in Bristol on the 26th Sep my wife and I were very excited when the taxi collected us from our hotel at 11am on the 27th to take us to Southampton. The journey was due to take a couple of hours but was a little over three due to all three lanes of the M4 being closed near Newbury. Fortunately the motorway reopened pretty quickly. We arrived in Southampton at about 3pm. We got out of the taxi to be met by porters who took our suitcases and we walked into the departure lounge. We were given our embarkation card which was then called immediately so we walked upto registration, then through security and onto the ship. We literally walked straight from the taxi to out cabin with no delay at all – perfect!

Once onboard we swiftly opened a bottle of champagne as we settled into our C deck, forward, port side cabin. It’s true – the balconies on C deck are huge! I measured it at one point and it was 10 foot x 10 foot. More than big enough for our needs. I had prebooked a welcome on board package of champagne, flowers and chocolates. I was a little disappointed that the champagne was in the fridge rather than in an ice bucket, also we had no champagne glasses. We called room service but didn’t get them until 3 hours later (I accept it was busy on embarkation day) so we drank champagne from the tumblers!

After the muster drill we finished unpacking, relaxed on the balcony and then got ready for dinner. We were on freedom dining and were allocated Saffron. We asked for a table for two and were given a buzzer so we went to the Exchange for a drink and were bussed within 10 minutes. Incidentally this was the only time that we had to wait for a table for 2, although most nights we were happy to share a table. The quality of the food on the first night was perfectly ok but not great. Of more concern was the attitude of the waiting staff. They weren’t rude but certainly weren’t friendly. Both my wife and I have cruised before but this was our first cruise together and we both remarked that we had not experienced this attitude before. Fortunately this was the only time that we experienced this. Every other evening we were served by friendly, helpful staff in both Saffron and Cinnamon (we ate in Cinnamon one night to see how it compared to Saffron). Before reiting for the evening we had a couple of drinks in the Red Bar and then went to the Glass House where we booked a food & wine pairing evening for later in the holiday. Read more