Our holiday got off to a bad start when we boarded our flight to Miami to find that B.A., in their quest for more profits, had tightened their seat pitch to the point where it was impossible to move, the foot rest was suitable only for midgets and cut across the shins of normal mortals when raised and the seat-back screen was only about 6 inches from my not unduly big nose when the forward seat was reclined. Having said that the cabin crew were excellent and the (seafood option) meals actually good. It is a pity that when spending this amount of money on a holiday the cruise lines cannot negotiate a reasonable upgrade price to economy plus for their clients.

Thereafter everything went smoothly with efficient transfers and excellent overnight hotel (Hilton Biscayne) and smooth boarding procedures.

Boarding was at 11.30 and after lunch and an exploration our cabin was ready for us by 13.00 with cases standing outside. It was average size but clean and modern looking with everything working and an excellent female steward (Natalya) who was quite amazed and gave us red carpet treatment after I spoke to her in Bulgarian !! Exploring the ship, the Centrum was a wow factor and the facilities were way above anything we had previously experienced - playing mini-golf in a 25 knot wind on a rolling ship for example and the self-levelling snooker tables were quite an experience. Now to the cons - whilst the ship was 5* the food was only 3* and actually not as good as on our previous cheapie cruise on the Thomson Celebration and the service, whilst satisfactory, was what I can only call robotic, perhaps due to the mix of nationalities,compared to the friendly super service on the almost exclusively Filipino waiters on the Celebration. Read more