We have made a great trip through Scandinavia and the Baltic States to Saint Petersburg. The ship is somewhat outdated, but the rooms are very comfortable. The service from the staff is fantastic, and the food in the (buffet) restaurant is great too. The shows in the evening are nice and not inferior to the shows that other companies offer. There are plenty of activities on the ship - even on days when you don't go ashore. The only drawback we found was that 90% of the passengers boarded in London, and therefore everything on the ship is aimed at these British passengers. For example, there is a big show to welcome the guests, where no word is said about the passengers who have been on board for 2 weeks and disembark the day after in Rotterdam. There is also a "British Only" buffet. As a result, as a non-Briton you get the feeling that you are in the third wheel. This feeling was shared by many Irish / Spanish / Dutch guests. Disembarkation is very chaotic: in Tilbury there are long queues and people who do not need to disembark are asked to wait in the room - when all British passengers have left, there is not enough time left to take the train to London . Also in Rotterdam the departure is chaotic and you get the idea that they are doing this for the first time. This is much better organized at other companies. Another point of irritation is that British passengers occupy seats in large numbers: for the show at 9 p.m. you have to take a seat at 8 p.m. because otherwise there are no good places left. People occupy entire rows for guests who come later. Also at the pool early in the morning sun loungers are claimed with a towel - some of these chairs are not used all day. It is regularly announced that this is not desirable, but that does not resolve it. With other cruises I have never experienced that you have to go to the theatre 1 hour before the start of a show to make sure there is a seat for you. The excursions were all perfectly arranged. They've done that well! All in all we had a great holiday, thanks to the great staff and the good food. Still, I would choose a different company next time. Read Less

We chose this trip as we wanted to see Norway and the Northern lights. When we got to Tibury we were sent round in circles. The signs were few and far between and not very well positioned. We followed the signs only to be told that we were in the wrong area. It was like Custers last stand! There were cars going round and round in circles all being in the wrong place. We finally got to the right area and had to sit under a marquee with rain, whipped up by high winds, blowing through!! The first impression of the ship wasn't good. It looked pretty unkempt . We were on deck 7 and the smell of sewage and fuel oil was overwhelming . I made a comment to one off the crew and we were told " It's an old ship " and that this was it's last trip before a refit. The smell got worse over the next 4 days particularly when the Captain made a decision to sail with a force 11 predicted!! We had 7/8 metre waves and hurricane force winds. This was a full day at sea. The opinion if the guests was that we shouldn't have sailed. The smell after was REVOLTING. It made your eyes sting and you held your breath until you got away from the stairwell. The food was bland and pretty much the same every day. The trouble was seating. There simply wasnt enough seats and tables to cater for everybody. We had to sit on the window sills on two occasions!! They were constantly running out of cutlery and crockery. Mugs were at a premium. The room staff were SUPERB, as were the waiters, but other bar staff had a couldn't care less attitude. We were served the wrong drinks numerous times and had our cards swapped on 3 occasions. The shows were, well what do I say?. Queen tribute night summed it up. The backing ' band' were terrible. The 4 singers went from English to their native tounge if the couldn't remember the words. I didn't know if to laugh or cry! We walked out after the third song. Some people did say they enjoyed it to be fair. The comedian we saw had the oldest jokes you could think of. To make matters worse he tried to play the guitar! He couldn't keep up with the back music AND played out of time and time. The tours were good and we saw the Northern lights, which was the reason for the cruise. The tour guides were very helpful. We wouldn't sail again on the Meggelan. I know this was it's last trip and it showed, but it just lacked the things that make it a nice ship. Perhaps after a refit things might be different. But going on our experience, this was a outdated old smelly ship and had we known that, we wouldn't have booked it. Read Less