It took around 45 minutes to get through embarkation, and we had a superior deluxe balcony cabin ( D709 ), which was great for two of us - fridge, two tv screens, full size bath and seating area. Our toilet did try to overflow with clean water a few times, but you could usually hear it filling up, and if you pressed the flush button again, it usually stopped. If anything, the pillows were the only dire thing, being comparable to bags of sand in comfort.

Our steward (Noel) was nice and did a very good job, remembering to fill our ice bucket more times than he forgot.

The Bay of Biscuits was predictably a bit rough going out from Southampton, but we took sea-sickness tablets which seemed to work, although some other passengers were affected badly and spent a lot of time in their cabins. On the return journey, it was much smoother. Read more