I had read the reviews for the Christmas cruise which Magellan did and I was very close to cancelling our cruise, however we decided to make our own minds up on CMV.

The entire experience was excellent, if there was any minus point at all it was that the hairdryer wasn't as powerful as I would have liked.

The Embarkation process was flawless, they took the cases from our car in the car park and we were able to board the ship at the time that was stated on the tickets, so don't bother arriving early, they stick to times.

The cabin was more spacious than I expected and was warm and comfortable, the heating is controlled in the ceiling. Everything was clean and tidy from the cabins to the ship.

The food in the buffet is really good, there is everything you could want at breakfast and the curry served one lunchtime was second to none. There is a wide range of dishes.

The main dining room was lovely and the waiters are polite and helpful, again food was excellent.

The drinks package is worth every penny of the £17 pppn as a glass of wine is £5. In the package you can have beer, cocktails, wine, shorts etc but not Baileys Coffee.

The ship felt stable at all times and I never saw any leaks at all. Two of the lifts were still not working but there were never any queues at the others.

The disembarkation process was even better than embarkation, we sat in the bar until we were called, disembarked, got on a shuttle bus to the car park then located our luggage easily as it was in rows of deck numbers. It was flawless and very well organised.

I would recommend CMV to anyone, great value, excellent food and staff. well done!