We arrived in Southampton 7th August 11.45 and had luggage removed by porters (excluding hand luggage) We had brought along a wheelchair for my husband as he suffers from arthritis in legs as we thought it might come in handy on excursions. When this was seen, they offered assistance in wheeling him to the ship as they said it would be rather a long walk for him so he took them up on their offer.

The check in operation went very smoothly and we were on the ship within fifteen minutes. As my husband had assistance, we were shown to our stateroom E311 (Emerald deck) which was supposedly fully obstructed outside cabin. What a suprise when we entered. The lifeboat was below the window plus a bar or two going across outside of window but other than that, had a really good view. Obviously wasn't able to see below window, but when sailing and in ports, had great view so worth checking out when booking an outside cabin. I did enquire pre cruise with our T.A. how much extra we would have to pay for an unobstructed cabin and was quoted £300 each which i thought was a bit steep so opted for fully obstructed. I actually think some are more obstructed than others especially if you have a tender boat in front which i know some cruisers did and couldn't see a thing so something to think about when you book.

Our friends that cruised with us had booked an inside cabin which seemed quite a bit smaller. The staterooms are quite adequate for two with a shower room with sink (lovely hot water!) nice dressing table area with large mirror although wasn't overly impressed by the lighting in the room, found it quite difficult putting makeup on but then i suppose my eyesight probably isn't what it used to be. Outside the bathroom is the wardrobe area with a rail in a recess. There were quite a few hangers there but try to bring some of your own as i found i had to leave some of my clothes in my suitcase (probably brought too many!) The bed was lovely and comfortable which we were pleased about as having read some reviews some cruisers ask for egg crates to be placed over mattress which apparently makes them softer - never heard of them before. Read more