We decided last year that we would try a cruise and decided to ask the mother-in-law to accompany us as she's not getting any younger and doesn't generally do holidays. We had separate but adjoining staterooms with the sliding balcony door opened.

Boarding was delayed due to the previous cruise being affected by an outbreak of Gastroenteritis and the ship having to undergo a "deep-clean" but we were informed via email of this fact. Despite this boarding went smoothly and we were eventually allowed access to our room at 4pm. The room itself was spacious with an enormous comfy bed and ample storage including space under the bed for the suitcases.

We found all the staff very friendly and nothing was too much trouble. Special mention must go to Curtis and Igor in the King Lear dining room, both very attentive and also obtaining dishes for my mother-in-law that weren't part of the evenings offerings. That said we both felt that the menu in the dining room wasn't too imaginative and sometimes the food wasn't up to the spec we'd expected. Also most meals were of an american slant (I know RCI are US based but they are operating out of Europe). There were the odd raised eyebrows as to what a dish actually turned out to be!. The Windjammer was generally packed and as has been previously mentioned it was better to go either early or late but there was always a good choice of meals and very attentive staff, unlike some of the guests who obviously hadn't eaten for months and had to eat whilst in the queues or even in the lifts. Read more