As we were travelling with 3 young children (4,7 & 10) and had to travel in the UK school summer holiday it is surprisingly difficult to find any suitable cruises. We had been looking for months and finally found one at the last minute in a local travel agent and immediately booked it. My wife and I have previously cruised with Princess, Cunard and Celebrity so understood that this would not be the same. We understood that it was a very casual three star ship but were a little worried when we checked out a lot of the negative reviews on this and other sites.
We should have not have been worried at all the cruise was absolutely fantastic! The ship is a little tired on the inside although spotlessly clean, and lacks the open spaces on more modern ships. There are also some design flaws such as no nearby stairwells from the upper sun deck to the pool area which remind you that it is a converted ferry although nothing serious. Other than that I was very impressed. Our outside cabins were similar to those on other ships, comfortable, clean with an excellent cabin steward.
Some people have made negative comments that only plastic plates were available Beachcomber Restaurant but it is a typical inside/outside buffet restaurant similar to all ships I have travelled on, all of which to my memory had plastic plates. The Island Restaurant was a more formal buffet style restaurant but you often had to share tables with other passengers. The buffet food was very good with a decent selection of meals and the kids loved it, although I do prefer waiter service. The Oasis Restaurant was a typical waiter service restaurant and the food was excellent for a £15 per adult cover charge. Kids can dine with you from a good Kids menu at no charge. I found the service much better in this restaurant than some other ships we had been on as it was never crowded and you had much more personal attention. Both main restaurants had large windows and we ate almost every meal to fantastic sunsets. The only exceptions was a fantastic lightening storm.
Quiet, close to restaurant, clean, similar space to cabins on other ships.