We did a 2 night pre-cruise stay in Milan with included excursion to see the last supper, the excursion was excellent one of the best I have ever done and I have done quite a few, the guide was very entertaining. The hotel Rosa Grand was in a fab location right in the centre of the city within sight of the beautiful Cathedral. I recommend a visit to Flash Restaurant around the corner from the hotel, where they do fantastic pizzas and pasta. The hotel was adequate if a bit large and impersonal but served a purpose.

The ship was nice and so were the cabins just a little small. After reading all the previous reviews I think I was expecting a lot more with regards to the service, unfortunately for us the ship was full and so the service fell short, there was a couple of grumpy staff and not many of them had the 'nothing is too much trouble attitude' probably because they were overworked, but considering the cost of this cruise this should not happen. The temperature in the bar was at times freezing, we complained to the bar staff and didn't notice a difference we complained to the cruise manager who said I know I keep telling him to turn it down but you try and see if you have more luck than me, one evening we fetched blankets from the pizza restaurant to put over our knees in the bar.

With regards to the dress code I found a lot of people very casual even on the gala dinner night, some men in jackets but not all and with regards to jeans someone on a previous review said "you will stand out if you wear jeans on an evening" this was not the case, some people were in tracksuit bottoms on an evening. Read more