The flight from Manchester was well organised and we were soon in the departure lounge, it may be my imagination but every time I visit the airport the amount of seating get less. The terminal was very busy as Saturday appears to be a popular day for travelling. The flight of eight hours plus passed reasonable well with some reasonable food on the way, there was very little free entertainment on the television, you were required to pay an extra four pounds for a better selection although you got free head phones.

On arrival at Barbados the embarkation was slick and relatively painless. We had a balcony cabin in the middle on the Riviera deck unfortunately it was under the pool area and meant that every morning we heard the staff setting out the sun beds, apart from that it was a good cabin and we didn’t hear the ‘Sail away’ parties. The facilities in the cabin were good with tea/coffee available fresh ice everyday even tid bits like biscuits and chocolates, you also got a couple of bottles of water free. One word of warning if you’re taking a charger for you phone etc with a USB port get one with the USB port anywhere but the bottom as the sockets are right close to the dressing table top and there’s no room underneath. Cedric our cabin attendant kept the room spotless and no request was to much trouble.

Except for Formal nights we ate mostly in the Peninsula dining room with it’s Freedom dining and except for one night we found the service fast and friendly. The menus had some weird and wonderful items some of which we’d never heard of. In the buffet there were a good selection although there were themed nights where there were no alternatives. One thing I noticed was the atmosphere in the buffet and dining rooms was subdued, very few of the waiting staff seemed to be happy although still very efficient. On deck the grill has changed so that most of the choices were already cooked and ready for pick-up, they also had a large refrigerator where you could pick up a sandwich, salad or a cold sweet, this turned out to be very popular as people could take them back to their loungers to eat. Read more