I believe in looking for the positive otherwise you will have a miserable holiday and what is the point of that. Admittedly we decided early on that we wouldn't be returning to this particular ship as we did not like the design of deck 10 (an important deck as we like to take our buffet breakfast and lunch outside). As it was a particularly windy fortnight the wind funnelled its way along the deck in a surprising way as it would appear to be sheltered. Also it simply was not a nice area for relaxing - very cramped with many tables set in rows. Still, there's not a lot Thomson can do about that and we'll certainly return to their other ships.

However considering the problems posed by the norovirus I think the crew did a remarkable job. Food had to be served to us for about 10 days of our holiday which must have been a huge drain on staff resources. I've never experienced this before (have cruised 12 times, 6 with Thomson) but I knew it happened frequently and dreaded it happening as I like to pick out the food I like eg lean bacon. To be honest it wasn't as bad as I expected and I wasn't going to let poor presentation of food on my plate ruin my holiday like some reviewers. Its a buffet for goodness sake. Food presentation was perfectly fine in the dining rooms.

On the whole the crew were fantastic (99% were friendly, helpful and smiley, just a couple of bar girls were rather cold). The cleaners who were constantly hoovering the stairs and washing the hand rails never failed to speak as we passed them. Read more