Just back off the ship on Thursday evening past and it is so good to be back home! We travelled as a party of 4 and we really felt sorry for the passengers who had another week on that ship. If your travel agent tells you that this ship is 4* they are WRONG! It is barely a 3* if that. I booked this holiday back in January 09 for cruising on October 15th. Don't believe your travel agent if they tell you that booking early is cheaper and you will secure better offers. This is also WRONG! We asked for double beds in outside cabins on deck 3 but ended up with twin beds on very noisey deck 2. We hardly slept all holiday and despite being told that if we got twin rooms that they could be made into a double this was impossible as the twins are fixed to the wall. We immediately asked for other cabins but were told 'full to capacity, can't do' despite the fact that there were 3 empty cabins on our deck for the duration of the holiday!!! Anyways, let get into the holiday we thought and make do! We met some lovely people on board, some starting their second week who advised us not to book excursions with the ship due to expense and lack of any free time permitted. We had already discovered this thru our holiday research so we opted for our own thing.
Food wise - the best offering was from Seven Seas restaurant on Deck 4. Those singing waiters were fabulous....very entertaining indeed. The Lido self service was not so good. As it positioned at the back of the ship and open to the elements not only where all the diners cold but so too was the food. Granted our weather was really poor this particular week (not ships fault of course) but anytime we used the facilities in the Lido jumpers/fleeces were much needed. So pack a few extra and take an umbrella! We tended to use the Lido for quick breakfast in the morning as this is the only place on the ship were you can help yourself to tea and coffee. Anywhere else on the ship you have to pay for it. Be warned if you like a fresh orange juice in the morning you best buy your own as the offering from the Lido is HEAVILY diluted and just awful! Drinks were abit more expensive. We didn't opt for the inclusive drinks package as 2 of our party were not great drinkers, if you know what I mean. All members of your party have to go for it at £169 per person + surcharges for certain drinks. We did discover from talking to other passengers that the inclusive drinks package varied hugely in price - one Liverpudian said it was offered to them for just £49!! Bargain! Gotta mention the cocktails before one forgets as all in our party were convinced that they are also diluted. You pay approx €3.75 per cocktail from a very detailed bar menu and ship also offers a different cocktail each day. We decided on leaving each port that we would meet up in the Sky Bar for the day's special cocktail and on one occassion we had several EACH!! we all commented the next day how absolutely fine we felt??? I felt more tipsy after sharing a bottle of wine with my hubby the following evening than I did after 7 alcoholic cocktails.
