We had read a lot of reviews about the ship and were looking forward to experiencing it ourselves. We are seasoned P&O cruisers and usually spend Christmas and New Year on either Ventura or Azura but this time neither of them were doing the Caribbean to take in both holidays.

If there is one thing P&O do well it is the flights and transfers from Barbados airport to the ship. However, on arrival at the cruise check in shed it was chaos. We thought as we were in a Suite, we had a separate check in but no one directed us and there was no sign to say this so we queued up with everyone else. Once aboard we soon found our Suite on deck B. We had not had a Suite before and were immediately impressed by the extra room you get compared with a regular balcony cabin (although our neighbours said that the suites on Ventura are bigger). The bathroom and separate toilet were great - whirlpool bath, large separate shower, quality toiletries, lovely huge towels, lots of mirrors and shelves and a separate wash basin in the toilet room, although there were no soap dishes so the soap slid around the counter top unless you anchored it on a flannel. The balcony was long and narrow - I thought narrower than on the other ships but OH thought it was about the same. Suffice it to say that you could not place one of the chairs square on to the door and rail - it had to be at an angle. Anyway taking all in all we were happy.

There were 4 wardrobes with doors, lots of hangers including padded ones and plenty of drawer space but the main wardrobe was just not tall enough to take my long dresses. There was an iron and ironing board, coffee maker, fridge, 2 TVs, sofa, 2 easy chairs, 2 desk chairs, 2 desks, lots of glasses and a good sized easy to use safe that you didn't have to grovel on the floor to use. We had fresh fruit, chocolates and a bottle of champagne (and a lovely Christmas cake which was delivered in time for the big day). There were also binoculars (but they were broken) and a good hairdryer. The bed was comfy although we did not like the pillows. There were insufficient UK 3-pin plug sockets (plenty of US style ones) so remember to take a multi way socket device. The cabin was kept nice and clean by our Steward but we were not much impressed by the butler who kept forgetting our ice and delivered canapés much too late - sometimes just as were leaving the cabin for dinner. Read more