The ship is a little tired. However, the Cabin was bigger than RCI and P and O the other companies I have cruised with. The arrival is efficient cases checked in at Birmingham and arrived at Cabin within 30 minutes of boarding the ship. On the return cases collected from outside cabin and sent to luggage carousel in Birmingham.

There is a shortage of seats in the public areas so you need to have dinner in the buffet and get one early to get a seat. The shows are excellent but support poles in the theatre mean an obstructed view for most. The hassle of bar staff is worse than any port you will ever go to. I entered the theatre and within 3mins 45 seconds 4 different waiters asked if I wanted a drink from the bar, on another nigyht the time was 4mins and 35 seconds if you move seats they are all back asking again, if I accepted every offer I would be drunk and bankrupt. I heard from someone who did a cruise the week before that some guests were causing problems by being drunk every night not a great surprise. The waiters are rude when you say no and will start to ask every member of your group separately. Something you discipline your children for. Bar staff apart the waiters in the restaurant are very polite and good though meals take a long time every meal was served hot something you cant say about RCI where 60% of meals I sent back for being cold. The safe priced at £25 was a little steep especially as others offer it for free and an extra £9.95 for a steak in the restaurant is a liitle steep again compared to other cruise lines.

Sunbeds around the pool are difficult to get so you have to get up early to get one, notices state that they will remove towels after 45 minutes but this just is not done I observed towels on beds all day only being removed by a guest late afternoon when they decided they were not going to use them. Another annoying point on Sea Days they kick you out from the pool and sunbeds at 4.30pm and the staff are not polite about this I asked to speak to someone senior and this was refused, although the cruise news states it is open until 8.00 pm when questioned we were told it was for a private party on each occasion surely these could be held somewhere else or at least the Cruise News Paper could show the correct times. Read more