I was a little apprehensive for a while before this cruise. Vision OTS was getting a bit of a critical mauling from some quarters, from suggestions the interior decor was "tired", to intimations of grave dilapidation. The food was awful (people were LOSING weight), and some staff just wanted to get you onboard, take your credit card number, sell you every service they could, and then get you off the ship as quickly as possible.

There must be two ships called Vision of the Seas, because I certainly didn't sail on the vessel described above!

After a lovely night in Copenhagen's Tivoli Gardens, we stayed at the Absalon Hotel. Cheap as chips, did the job. After breakfast, we got a taxi to the port, arriving at 11am, just as the heavens opened and an almighty deluge soaked as as we were getting out of the cab. It lasted about 10 minutes, and far from being a warning of what was to come, it was the last time we got wet until we got home to Ireland, apart from a little drizzle in Tallin and a shower in Stockholm. Read more