Chose CMV as port is local and chose the sailing to see Northern Lights (which we did 3 times) also coincided with my birthday.

I agree with some other passengers the embarkation was bad - the vessel was delayed and we were given a revised time to arrive but when we did it was mayhem. The cruise terminal was packed there was no instruction as to where to go or what to do - chaos is an understatement. After giving documents and receiving our boarding pass we were told to take a seat me and my friend decided to join a short queue and within minutes we were on the ship (why the lady told some people to take a seat when others were boarding is a mystery). Once on the ship we were shown to our cabin which was very well laid out spacious and clean. As we were waiting for our suitcases we decided to explore the ship and as this was our first cruise was amazed by the size and how well laid out everything was. Soon after sailing we were given the safety drill and then we went to get some food.

I found nothing wrong with the food - the choice was vast whether Breakfast Lunch and Dinner either at the restaurant's or at Raffles buffet (which was always packed). The entertainment was excellent and we went to the show lounge most evenings and were amazed at how hard the dancers and singers work and the shows ok not West End standard were very well performed and put together. There were lots to do on board from games, quizzes, talks or just relaxing. We also went to Captains club for entertainment and was amazed the singers were there after coming off stage from the show lounge. Cannot fault any of the staff, they were polite attentive from a waitress to the guy who cleaned our room (very good towel sculptures). The shore excursions were also good, although would have liked a little more freetime in Amsterdam (only 30 minutes) but all others were well organised and tour operators were very good. Read more