This was an excellent cruise. We had two nights in New York before we embarked on the ship which went very smoothly. The ship was very clean and very new looking and I particularly liked our cabin especially the shower room. Dining was very good although we only had the complementary meals which were excellent and the dining rooms very nice. Service was also very good, staff were polite and friendly. However the entertainment was very disappointing with only three shows - the first I had a job to keep awake, the next one we walked out and we didn't bother to go to the third. The entertainment around the ship was non existent really - not a patch on the cruise line we normally use.

The service charge of $13.50 per day and the 18% gratuity for every drink WAS NOT COMPULSORY. We went to the information desk on our last day, which we were told to do on our first day, and informed them that we didn't wish to pay the $13.50 per day service charge as we wanted to give our own tips. There wasn't a problem at all, if fact when we received our bill, the 18% for every drink was taken off too!! So we received a zero bill the next morning which was great (we had the ultimate drinks package which was in with our deal).