Independence of the Seas is a very large vessel but its facilities are not themselves large enough or well-staffed enough to accommodate the passenger population. Windjammer, the popular buffet restaurant, frequently becomes so full that finding seats for groups of 2 or 3 becomes testing; for bigger groups often impossible. The food though is excellent & the staff, insufficient in number to cope with these events, are very good. The drink situation onboard is risible. Again, function rooms & bars often become filled for events because of the excessive passenger population, & only 1 or 2 waiters are left to cope with their demands. The selling of drinks on board is poor. Individual drinks bought effectively for cash are about twice as much as in U.K. bars; a glass of rose costing about $8 (£6.50). The onboard drinks package offered to my wife & me, both retired & living on pensions, cost £140 per day; really. The only time we bought alcohol on this cruise was during a port call at Cannes. We bought a bottle of Gin for our daughter principally because of the attractive bottle & its’ labelling. We declared this bottle on boarding the ship & handed it for safe keeping to security staff clearly explaining the reason for its purchase. When returned the labelling had tape stuck over it. The room service on this ship is the best I have ever experienced & is worthy of commendation. Hard working staff are the salvation of many rather cavalier management decisions on this ship. Read Less

Having had a brilliant cruise on Navigator last year, we booked to do the same itinerary with friends from Scotland. Our 19th cruise - and 8th with R.C. but what a huge disappointment - so much has changed. The admin staff were 'polite' to the point of rudeness. The ship was tired and dull - downright grubby in places. Mirrors in dining room had a film of grease over them. No real sparkle to this ship. It may be going in for refit - but there was no excuse for poor cleaning. All the luxury elements were missing, no flowers on dining room table - in fact no diners!! Our complete section had empty tables around us - the food was tepid, insipid and uninspiring. Waiting staff were excellent - doing their best under the circumstances. The head chef spent more time apologising to guests than he did in the kitchen. Conclusion - they were trying to get you to spend more in the speciality dining ! Forget the windjammer - crammed to capacity due to guests not using dining room. Our jnr suite - excellent space - but we had to ask for the floor to be cleaned in the second week - no sign of a hoover and carpet getting thicker every day. Glass tables in bars were grubby. Drinks waiters friendly - but then they were getting regular tips to remember us. The changed the itinerary dropping Genoa before we even sailed - due to overcrowding - did they not book their slot over a year ago?? the replacement port was skipped due to the non-appearing Hurricane. Lisbon was skipped - and they substituted it with an overnight stay in Le Havre. Of all the ports they could have gone to why this ferry port with nothing of interest?? They did not even lay on shuttle buses to get to town. Over 3,000 people on board, many old and challenged - the queue for the port bus was over one hour long. the 25 minute walk - was more like 40 mins. They did manage however to book coaches for an overpriced trip into Paris. They even took coaches to Rouen for a trip - WHY French health official had declared the place an health issue due to huge chemical fire. Toxic soot on everything, questions over air quality and a ban on eating fruit and veg grown there and the milk had to be thrown away - yet RC thought it would be a great idea to take people to visit it. How desperate for profit was that. Very poor entertainment Cleary they are floundering in the expanding cruise market and have lost their edge. Our worst cruise out of 19 others !! Very poor value for money and disappointing to say the least -- Royal Caribbean dont even bother responding to correspondence outlining issues. Staff refused to provide a letter for insurance company stating port missed and the reason. Read Less

P&O has done a Marks and Spencers act. It has ignored customer demand and gone for max profit. This cruise proved it. We ate onshore as often as possible. We are tired of the same corporate menu, cruise after cruise. No imagination, no food uploaded along the route - so no local produce.(To ensure quality - we are told.) To ensure max profit is probably fact. We chose the cruise to visit Corsica - it never happened but for acceptable reasons. However P&O food gets worse each cruise. Every turn demands money - the only smiling staff for the 1st two days were those demanding money! The music has got louder and less appropriate to each venue. Azura appears to have no quiet area for relaxing. The staff are great but corners are being cut everywhere. If you like massive loads of average food, loud music everywhere and family movies like Dumbo - you will love P&O Azura. It is not for us - we do not go on holiday for endless loads of poor quality food, for over loud music and below average entertainment. Aurora was ok but even so, did not match RCI for food quality or entertainment. RCI per day was half the price too! Maybe we got a good deal but - 50% cheaper - that is something to consider even at full price! Better food by far, better entertainment and a more caring company. Read Less

We chose this ship because it was recommended by a friend. The ship is a good size ship and we expected Cunard to be of a high standard. Cabin - good size.good size balcony. excellent housekeeping. Buffet - good selection at breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was hit and miss as to whether the hot food was hot, tepid or cold. Bread - cheap supermarket bread which I would not consider buying at home. I had a sandwich one day, the bread was so dry it was like cardboard. On another occasion the bread was damp and one morning it was frozen in the middle. Britannia restaurant - veggie - mean portions, tepid food on tepid plates, Poor quality food. I had to insist on having hot food on hot plates. The talk of the ship was the noticeable cut backs from last year and the limited choice of food at dinner, the quality of food and the small portions. Pretentious titles of some of the dishes. The other main topic of conversation was the price of drinks. A pint of beer around 7 dollars. Some cocktails were around 12 dollars with a 15 percent surcharge on top!! Read Less

We spent a day in London with a guide and visited Stonehenge on the way to the ship. We were delayed and embarkation was easy as most were already aboard. Our tour guide arranged all of our excursions and disembarkation. The ship is ok but needs updates. We were told that it was going to dry dock the first of the year for refurbishing and updating. Do not purchase a balcony toward the aft of the ship or on the 11th floor. We had the last aft balcony on the 11th floor and the room was tiny. I was traveling with a friend and the twin beds were about 2" apart. That was not acceptable and we had the steward move the sofa sideways so we could be at least 10" apart. We could barely move around the room. There was very adequate closets and drawers for all of our vacation necessities. The noise from the Galaxy Room, where all entertainment and dancing occurred, was right above the room and kept me up until the place closed or the music stopped. We have a specialty dining package and used all of them at Cagney's Steak house. The steaks were excellent. The sides were ordinary but the desserts were excellent. Service at all eating venues and drinking venues was very good. Out last port of call was cancelled because of bad weather and high seas and it was a tender port. I probably would not go on this trip again because I want to see new places. I Read Less

Saw an add, took a chance. Did not regret it! Yes, there is probably more luxurious etc., but this was absolutely wonderful for my husband and I. The Freestyle model is great. The staff detail on cleanliness was very appreciated. They watched, just like they should, over patrons and ensured that everything met expectations. I would probably ask for a Wi-Fi package next time but it is really expensive. I would recommend that soft drinks be available at the Raffles buffet. Having to visit the bar for a Pepsi or Ginger Ale is not necessary. We were disappointed by the lack of recycling facilities for plastic, paper. Nowadays, it should be standard. It probably is hard onboard a ship, but still, a little effort would go a long ways. Perhaps public places where people could drop the recycling. The ship is not new but has a warm, inviting atmosphere. Again, the cleanliness is worth mentioning. It is not one of the larger cruise ships but I liked it that way, not too intimidating for a first time cruiser. We went to a couple of entertainment shows, quite enjoyable, very professional looking. We went to the Japanese restaurant, and the Windows restaurant. Very good food, no complaint there. The service was very good in these restaurants, and exceptional throughout the rest of the ship. We had three excursions with Norwegian: Belfast, Liverpool, Dublin. Extremely knowledgeable guides and nice buses. In Kirkwall, we disembarked through the use of tenders (small covered boats housing about 100 persons). This is an interesting experience even though one of the tenders (ours) experienced a technical problem. We were brought to the boat safely, though. We had a great time, we fully intend to use Norwegian Cruises again! Read Less

We booked this cruise for the itinerary and our Golden wedding anniversary . We have cruised for many years with different cruise lines, and cruised with Princess twice in the Caribbean these were fab with reasonable prices and good restaurant meals. But how different this cruise line has changed the food in the restaurant below average the Portions are smaller than all the cruises we have been on people we spoke to agreed. Some said why don’t you ask for 2 meals others do, why should l ask for 2 meal , the meal l get should be plentiful . Service in dining room most nights took 1.1/2 to 2 hrs We ate in the Horizon after that. Drinks prices were well over priced 90% of people drank water in restaurants . Food in Horizon And international cafe very good. The shows were all very good with a variety of different acts but getting a seat was difficult everynight ,if you weren’t in the theatre 45minutes before the start you struggled to get a seat. This shows how popular the shows were but a little thought could have eased this situation .The Club Fusion was most of the time 75% empty ( no reflection on the excellent group Xtasea who performed there) but the acts from previous nights in theatre could have performed a second time in there thus giving people a second chance to see them when they couldn’t get in theatre at either showing .This did happen once or twice in Explorers Lounge bit this was also like the Theatre you needed to get a seat by 6.30 to be able to get in for the evening.Exlorers was very popular due to gameshows al very enjoyable but why do it all in one lounge when another is sat empty most of the night Sapphire princess is same ship as P@O s Azura and Ventura and their Club Fusion equivellant is full everynight as well as Explorerers. This said we really enjoyed the cruise the staff were excellent ship lovely itinerary good but one last comment .WHAT HAS HAPPENED To THE SAILAWAY PARTIES ? Only cruise we have ever been on with no sailaway parties.and don’t blame the weather it was all good. Such a shame on a fantastic port like New York to sail out of one big disappointment . Read Less

In all the years we have travelled this was the worst trip we’ve ever been on. We took the cruise with friends who recommended Princess . From our first contact with the cruise line I knew we had made a mistake. I tried getting information on various aspects of the cruise and had some snotty woman in California slammed the phone down on me. We booked business class tickets through Princess direct from Toronto to London on British Airways. When they went on strike, after 10 days of phoning Princess daily, they rebooked us through Iceland on a cheaper flight and pocketed the difference. There were 3500 people on a ship that should have held no more than 2500. If you found a table at breakfast you were lucky. The food was mediocre at best. The beef stroganoff I had the last night was inedible. The speciality restaurants were better. The Crown Grill was okay but Sabatini’s restaurant was fine dining. We expected entertainment similar to Royal Caribbean. Other than a few dance bands there was nothing. They nickleled and dimed us to death. They charged $16 per person to shuttle you in ports. Because the proximity of the ports to the major centres you spent an inordinate amount of time in transit leaving little time to see the cities. Every venue on the ship had something special at a “nominal charge”. The best thing I did was buy the drink package as we got drinkable coffee at the speciality areas and bottled water and sofa throughout the cruise which was available at $2 each. If you do decide to do a Princess cruise at least one passenger should take the package. For us it was worth it’s weight in gold. Was there anything good-YES -the staff in the restaurants and bars were outstanding. They were wonderful and treated everyone as family- we absolutely adored them. The guest relations people couldn’t run a bath! No point in asking them for any assistance. The stock reply was “ I’ll need to ask my Manager”. So ask her or him!! “The Manager is not available right now”.. Needless to say this was a learning experience. The best day of the entire trip was the day we disembarked! We then spent 5 days at wonderful hotel in London! This was our one and only trip with Princess Cruise lines Read Less

Celebrity remains our favourite line despite cruises on P & O, Cunard and Royal Caribbean. We were booked in a Celebrity Suite but as my wife has mobility problems and really needs a walk in shower( not present in Celebrity Suite) we were lucky to get a last minute cancellation for a Royal Suite at greatly reduced price.The Suite is very similar to a Celebrity Suite but with the walk in shower and a bigger balcony with a Jacuzzi - rather grubby and remained unused. There are Sky Suites with disability features but at the stern end of the ship and in any case were unavailable.Perks included unlimited specialty restaurants ( became useful - see below) and a premium drinks package - not much use as my wife doesn't drink but it did mean a much nicer glass of wine with my dinner. The butler Jackie and suite attendant Jose were superb.This is being a bit picky but the suite needs the refurbishment that is coming soon - the table in the room was badly worn and the carpets looking a bit drab. We were in Luminae restaurant where we have dined before. The staff - from maitre'd Claire downwards were excellent and it was not their fault that the food was so disappointing. The menu is very limited and most people were asking for the menu from the MDR. The portions were tiny, especially the vegetables which often arrived tepid. On our last night my steak was of motorway service cafe standard. In fact the best evening meals we had were when we chose to eat upstairs in the Ocean View Restaurant (twice) and made use of our speciality dining perk to eat in the Grill on the Lawn (twice)where the food, especially the steaks, were of the highest standard. We tried Cuisine once but whereas it was previously a great experience we found it gimmicky, again with a very limited menu. We preferred breakfast and lunch in the Ocean Cafe - a bit crowded but much greater choice than in Luminae. All stops pulled out on last day's lunch in the Ocean View - choice of beef,lamb.turkey carvery,barbecued chicken, Indian,Chinese,Mexican, incredible cakes and a white chocolate fountain with fruit kebabs.(to my surprise only gained 5lb over the two weeks. Entertainment not of the highest order. The days of flying out big names are over. A good 60's group on first night(The Overtones) and a Jersey Boys type group(East Coast Boys) on last night - not bad but Franky Valli needn't worry. There were several silent discos held in the main foyer. Silent in name only - any attempt at conversation in Baccios two floors up was almost impossible. Don't know why they don't have these in the Sky Lounge on 14. The place sounded like a rowdy party night on Independance. That probably sounds pompous but Celebrity has always been a bit more sophisticated than Royal Caribbean. Often there are problems with shuttle services at ports for those with mobility scooters but we had excellent service in this respect at La Spezia and Lisbon. We enjoy the quizzes for daytime entertainment and the two entertainment officers who did these - Chantelle and Ryan were great and well liked by the participants. All in all a very enjoyable cruise with just a few grumbles. Read Less

I chose this Cruise because of the port destinations. I had never been on a cruise and this exceeded all of my expectations. All of the staff and crew that I encountered were very friendly and helpful my cabin Steward was excellent. The food was great the entertainment was out of this world. There were a few things I thought could have been better explained... Like it showed we were going to be in Reykjavik Iceland for 3 days in reality we got there one night were there a whole day and left at 1 a.m. so we were really only there for one day. There we're 2 sea days coming & going to Iceland. Then it was usually pretty difficult getting from the port into the town and you're not told of that. But overall this was one of the best experiences of my life and at the end of the cruise I bought 4 gift cards to cruise again. So Bravo to the crew of the spirit. As you see I said great value for my money even though I went as a single person I had to pay double the cabin price but I still thought it was worth it. Read Less

Background We have cruised 15+ times on various lines and usually go for the itinerary. We’ve always wanted to do Norway and this cruise popped up on Vacations To Go and away we were. We did book it rather late, probably a couple months prior. We had gone on Celebrity once before so we knew we had a good cruise line with a great itinerary. Little did we know just how great both would be. Traveling to the Port We flew two days earlier from the States so we would arrive a day early to get a night’s rest before embarkation. We used Celebrity for booking the flights, primarily American Airlines since we collect their miles, but the major flight over, from Philadelphia to Heathrow, was British Airways which was quite good. Upon our arrival at Heathrow, Passport Control was quite simple and we collected our luggage, albeit waiting a while for it, and met our driver just outside of baggage collection. We had arranged for a car from Smith’s for Airports and he was great. Hotel Since I’ve been collecting points at Best Western, we had decided to see if our points would pay off and booked the Best Western at Chillworth Manor. We thought that, in worst case, we’d have a bed and a shower and off we would go to embarkation. Were we pleasantly surprised! The hotel is, indeed, a former Manor. Not Downton Abbey, but quite nice and interesting. The grounds were lovely to walk about and we had a wonderful stay. The staff was excellent. We had dinner in the restaurant (highly recommend) and the breakfast, in the restaurant, was probably the best “free” breakfast we had ever had. Room was nice and comfy and we were very happy we selected the Manor. Embarkation We left the hotel via a hotel-arranged taxi at 10:00 AM and arrived less than thirty minutes later. We went through check-in quite quickly and easily and had a seat in the waiting lounge for no more than 5-6 minutes before our “number” was called to board. All-in-all, a great embarkation experience all around!! Stateroom Our stateroom was a balcony, 9109, quite far forward (about 5 rooms back from the front, but we found it to be great and quiet. There was a bit of a walk to the elevators, but that’s okay with us! Our cabin steward kept the room exceptionally neat and we had not a complaint. My wife has a CPAP machine and, having arranged it ahead of time, we had a gallon of distilled water and, much to our surprise, an extension cord awaiting us in the room. The room also had a water heater and we had tea out on our deck most days. As far as standard ship balcony rooms go, this was a good one. The Ship We had been on the Equinox and knew the general layout of the Silhouette. I have to admit that, when we found out after booking that she would be in drydock soon after our trip, I was a bit concerned that we were going on an “old” ship. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, many of us on board commented to each other that we didn’t really know why it was even being refurbished! It was a beautiful ship from stem to stern. Getting around the ship was easy. There were three decks of inside “evening” areas, including dining, shops, lounges, etc. Deck 5 had an outdoor walking area but did not entirely circumvent the ship, which is disappointing but appears to be the way with these ships nowadays. I long for the “Promenade deck” of old! The pool area got some use though this was a cooler itinerary. The indoor solarium pool was more the place to be if swimming is what you looked for. Given the itinerary, we didn’t even pack bathing suits! Dining We usually opt for freestyle dining as Norwegian calls it but, having booked so late, we were forced to have 6:00PM dining. It was okay but we would prefer not to eat that early again. Our wait staff was excellent and we had two other couples, one from the UK and one from Israel, at our table and we became fast friends. Food selection was very good as was the food itself. Specialty Dining We availed ourselves to one of the 3-night specialty packages and, though we probably wouldn’t do the package again, we were not disappointed with the experience. I think we’d stay in the MDR and just take one arbitrary night to do a specialty restaurant, if at all. Our first experience was the Lawn Club Grille, an “outside” venue – though it was fairly enclosed with the plastic walls. This is the place for steaks as they cook them right there on the grille and they were fantastic! Second experience was the Tuscan Grille. Here’s a tip – if you ever do the Norwegian Fjords itinerary, and you plan on eating here at all during the cruise, do so on the day you sail away from Flam. The restaurant is the aft-most one can be with large viewing windows and sailing away down the fjord is just magnificent. This is an Italian steakhouse and, once again, the food and staff were excellent. Our last experience, our last dinner on this cruise, was at Qsine. The “Les Petits Chefs’ experience is a once-in-a-lifetime thing that must be experienced. The table top animation is just tremendous, but that doesn’t take away from the great food and excellent service they provide. If you only do one specialty restaurant, make this one your choice. Activities There are activities every day and we admittedly did not participate much. The few we did – Question of the Day, Riddle of the Day, Movie/TV music themes – were fun and well-done and we probably did ourselves a disservice not participating more but there are only so many hours in a day. Suffice it to say that if Activities are your thing, there are plenty and seem to be well done. Entertainment We went to every one of the 7 theater shows and we were very impressed with all. The production team did three shows, all of them spectacular. The aerialists and acrobats were outstanding, as were the singers and dancers. One show was a local UK singer/pianist who did a very good job, especially on the piano. Another night was a comedian who was quite good and funny. The Flyboys were on board and they are a quartet of singers who transform “modern” songs into swing era style. The Overtures, the best 60’s band in the world according to Elton John, performed one night to rousing ovations and applause and did a quick set the last night in the Foyer area. The live music throughout the ship was top-notch. Two bands, once of which played a lot of 60s – 80s rock and roll, a solo guitarist/vocalist, a string duo (violin and cello) doing modern tunes with strings, were all great. We went to one of the “game shows”, Liars Club or some such thing, which was hilarious and I’m certain other shows were equally well done. On the final day, Captain George gave a talk about the ship and navigation and had a lengthy Q&A which was all very interesting. Ports The itinerary consisted of four fabulous ports. We used Celebrity for all tour excursions. We arrived in Bergen, Norway, at noon. Our tour was a little later and was simply a panorama tour of Bergen and the surrounding hills. Our guide was excellent and the tour was good. Also at Bergen is the ability to take a funicular up the hillside for views of the city. We did not do so but others on board did and report that it was great. Our second stop was at Alesund, Norway. Two things of note: If you go do Alesund and don’t do the Path of the Trolls tour, you have not been to Norway! And, though I know lots of cruise critics eschew ship tours, I heartily recommend you do the ship tour for this one or be prepared to fly yourself out to the next port. This is a LONG tour and is subject to so many possibilities of delays. Anyhow, the tour is excellent. You get to go well into the interior of Norway with its tremendous views. The third stop is the reason for taking a cruise to Norway, this cruise into and out of Flam. This town of only 400 is nestled at the end of an arm of Norway’s longest fjord. The cruise in and out is spectacular, with waterfalls almost within reach of the ship. We took the Flam railway up to the end, climbing up through the mountains with outstanding views of the Flam River valley and the various waterfalls. Flam is also a great town to walk about and get some souvenirs. The final stop was Stavanger which is a pretty good sized city at the southern end of Norway. From the ship, we took the cruise of the Lysefjord fjord. This was a great trip, despite the only real serious rain of the whole cruise. We had views of the great waterfalls and the famous Pulpit Rock. An interesting stop for waffles and coffee was also made and much appreciated. Disembarkation We elected to have our luggage taken off the ship and meeting it on shore, though a leisurely walk-off is also available. Getting off the ship was a breeze. We found our luggage quickly as that is well-organized. Customs was nothing since we had nothing to declare. We, again, had a ride organized with Smith’s for Airports and he collected us on time and had us to Heathrow with time to spare. Summary All in all, this was one of the best cruises we have ever taken. Admittedly, much of that credit goes to the itinerary, but the ship, staff, service, food and everything about the Silhouette was top-notch. Well done, Celebrity! Read Less

We sailed from Southampton and because we are Elite status on Celebrity, we are Diamond on Royal. This meant that we had priority boarding. We were soon on the ship, but had to go to the Windjammer for lunch as our room was not yet ready. I missed the welcome drink that we are given on embarkation by Celebrity. The room was ready just after 1.15. We were in 7314, which was starboard side. I was delighted to see that there was no lifeboat blocking our view. We unpacked our trolley bags and it was already obvious that storage space was going to be tight, no overhead locker as we have been used to on the Celebrity S class ships. Our main cases had not turned up by the time we went to Muster. We went in good time, so that we could get a seat. Not so on Royal, you queue up on an outside deck like school children waiting to go into class. The Captain made an announcement at the end of the proceedings and had to be prompted by someone as to which ship he was on. In fact we were led away as he was part way through his announcement. Really? As 5 pm was not far away, we went up on to deck 11 for Sail Away, which was delayed, so we enquired as to the whereabouts of the Diamond Lounge, so we could avail ourselves of the free drinks. These were constantly filled up and this remained so throughout the cruise. In fact we were one week into the cruise before we realised that we could ask for bottled water during Diamond hours. A fantastic perk for me as I use it to boil for my early morning cup of tea. We had booked Anytime dining and I had pre arranged 7 pm as our dining time. We were able to use our 3 free drinks loaded on to our card in the dining room until 20.30. A fantastic perk. We were seated at the same table every night except the first, as I am Dairy Intolerant, so this makes it easier for the waiter. Handy really looked after at table 321A. After our meal we found a seat in the Starlight Lounge, where we would spend 2 hours listening to Perry Grant. This was the one and only time that we were able to get a seat, as many passengers were still in the Theatre. We listened to him playing for 2 hours, but then I was weary of him asking guests the same questions, Do you have walk in wardrobes, do you have Formica in your kitchen, what colour is it etc.etc. We returned to our cabin to find that our cases had at last been delivered, but we left the unpacking until the next morning. I could certainly have done with the delivery being before the guaranteed 8 pm. We ate breakfasts in the Sapphire dining room on Deck 4 as it was waiter service. On the first morning we asked to be seated in the Diamond area. I was so pleased that we did this, as someone from our Roll Call group was also seated with us. We ‘hit it off’ and came across each other multiple times. We saw each other at the Meet & Mingle, where I was lucky enough to win the second raffle prize, which was a drinks container. Our new friend asked the CD why the ship was overbooked; they had been asked to give up their cabin by Royal, but as they had come over from Spain for the cruise and had an actual cabin, Royal told them they were OK to travel. Apparently there were 500 less guests than the previous week, which had still been the school holidays, where families had shared cabins. This week, most travellers were couples, and Royal had booked too many Guarantee cabins and I suspect not many guests had requested Royal Up ( we were still being sent e mails just one week before the cruise inviting us to apply). One feature of this cruise was the number of Alpha calls, ambulances met the ship at every port, even when the cruise ended someone fell down the escalators and had to be taken to hospital. We enjoyed the evening entertainment. The Barricade Boys, and Beatles Celebration were outstanding. The Starlight Lounge was overfull every night, so I was pleased that Perry Grant was invited to perform in 2 shows on stage, We also saw 2 Ice shows, one especially for Diamond members and Seasons which was performed for all guests. On the final evening the Guest Choir performed at 9 am in the Star Lounge. We just managed to get there on time, which was a good job, as my husband and our new friends had spent every Sea day rehearsing in Dizzy’s at lunch time. We were lucky with the weather, even the Bay if Biscay was calm and too soon we were back in Southampton. Read Less

We where traveling with 3 other couples and had never been to Scotland or Ireland so this cruise made sense. Nice area to visit and to get out of the heat of southern FL. The highlights include, easy boarding and departing, staff being helpful most of the time. Clean room and a decent itinerary. Our Travel Agent went the extra mile in making our arrangements and helping with problems some of which we created. Island of Guernsey was a nice stop with great weather. Dublin was also great as was Scotland. If your into Scotch a must stop is the Scotch Malt Whisky Society where we tasted and learned about the “water of life” along with learning to play the bagpipes, great fun. We use a lot of Viator Tours and saved considerable money as compared to booking with the cruise line.. The Guinness Storehouse was packed with people but we all like a pint or two, while the Jameson Distillery tour was a great educational tour. Food on the cruise was marginally ok. In the main dining rooms most food was over cooked and dry and not seasoned. The buffet was not much better but the soup was good. On the other hand the Grillroom food was excellent but for a 29.00 up charge it should be Most if not all of the entertainment on board would have not made it through the 1st round of America's Got Talent they would have been XXXX out. Princess likes to nickel and dime you to death for everything. They got so cheap as not put our lemonade or Ice Tea at the beverage station. They use a paperless system which creates a cash less system on the ship, but makes it hard to check you bill at the end of cruise. We have done a fair amount of cruising and would choose anther cruise line for our next cruise this coming March Read Less

Without the outstanding service of the Bar, Michelangelo wait staff and room service I would have rated this cruise as poor. I never saw the captain walking around the ship. Most officers never said a word. One of the chef's in the 15th floor buffet was rude and harse on one occasion. My wife and I came of the ship because people with the flu were not restricted to their state rooms. Many of people on board walked off with the flu. I'm not sure why Princess stayed in Dublin for two days knowing all too well that stores only open between 11am and noon. We had it be bck onboard for 3pm. A waste of a day. I'm really not sure why other than legally we stopped at all in Lahavre because ALL the stores are closed on Monday's !!!!!!! A real of time and money. People taking the excurion to Paris did not stop at the Louvre. The bus ride was 3hrs each way. This was $ 276 CDN. Comments provided by friends we met on the cruise. ANY excursion Princess provided was offered by other tour operators for at least half the cost as Princess. Excursion prices are rediculously high. My recommendation is to do your home work. Also, go to the front desk and have your gratuities removed from your bill and provide the staff that were outstanding. Many staff members deserved a dollar from the overall pot. Read Less

We chose this Cruise because having never visited Norway before we though it would be nice to go somewhere different . We have cruised several times to the Med and the Caribbean + Australia . Arrived at Southampton and boarded swiftly with friendly and efficient staff . Cabin was ready at 1pm Luggage arrived 10 minutes later . Our cabin steward Enrico introduced himself and was very pleasant . We were Aqua class so dined in Blu restaurant . Food was excellent as were the waiting staff . We had lunch a few times in the Ocean view self service restaurant ,the choice and quality was just fantastic . Silhouette is a beautiful ship and was spotlessly clean in all areas - with an amazing crew , from the Captain all the way down . Special thanks to Enrico our cabin steward you were a star . Cruise director Sue was brilliant -so much energy . We saw a couple of the shows and the comedian and thought they were very good . Ports of call were very good and the only organised one we did was in Flam ,although the scenery was beautiful I'm not sure it was worth the money -over £ 200 for the both of us for a 2 hour return train journey ! . All the other ports of call are walkable and very pretty I could go on and on about how great this Cruise was and if anyone wants to see Norway and the stunning Scenery they should give it a go and sail with Celebrity on the Silhouette . Read Less

Been on a few P&o cruises on ships Oceana, Azura and Brittania, so me and my partner decided to try Aurora and the Canary Islands. Overall we felt a bit dissapointed with this one. The ports were great and the excursions were great but we felt that having a full day and evening in Tenerife on the Monday instead of a full and evening day in La Palma on the Sunday would have been better, as everything opened at 10:00 and shut at 14:00 in La Palma,so you were just on the ship until we sail away at 21:00. The ship was a great size, and the new refurbishment was great with new carpets and everything in communal areas seemed new, however you could tell it was built in 2000. A tiny TV, with only certain channels compared to the On Demand service you get on Brittania, also it was in a really awkward position in our cabin. There was only one plug socket in the whole room too, which in an era of technology isn't really the best. Although advitised as an Adults only cruise, it'll be better off advitised as a over 50s cruise. Myself and my partner are in our 20s, and managed to make friends with two other couples in their 20s. We all felt that the entertainment in the evenings was aimed at the over 50s. The only real act who engaged with the whole audience age wise was the comedian Phil Melbourne. One great act was the Irish lad who did acoustic guitar sets on the Lido deck and in the crows nest some evenings. The entertainment team were great, very welcoming and friendly. The Headliners this year I would say were below the expected standard. The vocalists really carried the show, as the dancers were quite poor. It seemed that the best vocalists and dancers go on Brittania and bigger ships. The shows seemed a bit dated too, compared to those we saw more recently on Brittania. Instead of a West End experience, it felt more like a Panto in your local theatre. The crew this year were great, from cabin steward to waiters. There was only one waiter we had a problem with as he got my starter wrong, giving me a mushroom sausage roll instead of Potted Shrimp, and heinsisted that was what I asked for, even though I don't like Mushrooms! If you're over 50 it's a great cruise for you, however if you're under 50 I'd aim for another ship in the fleet! Read Less

We chose a 12 day cruise with P & O on their Aurora ship this year as everyone we knew, who had cruised, said that they had always had a great time. This ship is now Adult only. We had a smooth and speedy embarkation at Southampton and having travelled from the North-east of England this was a very welcome start to our holidays. Our inside cabin was a moderate size but well furnished with a decent size bathroom (shower). Our cabin was immaculate with tea and coffee making facilities (replenished daily) and Sandesh, who looked after our cabin ensured that clean towels (and pool towels) were changed daily and bedding changed regularly. His attention to detail was very impressive. We were also impressed with the wide selection of food available. Food was available through the day as were refreshments. Food was hot and well presented. We dined in different restaurants as well as the self-serve areas (the Horizon) and one of our favourite places was the Medina Restaurant where we got exceptional service from Melwyn and Joel who really looked after us well each time we visited. When we did dine in the Horizon we were often looked after by Frauline who was a very friendly and funny guy and ensured that we had everything we needed to enjoy our meals. The entertainment was, in our opinion, 1st class considering the entertainment team have so many different shows and routines to perform so often. We were never short of things to do, the cinema showed relatively new films, the gym had modern equipment, there were activities to join in all day long and lots of different entertainment in lots of different bars onboard the ship. One of our favourite places to chill was The Crow's Nest. A definate plus was being able to visit a designated are for Costa Coffee on board. All the staff were very friendly and helpful throughout our holiday. We didn't go on any organised trips as we wanted to explore the ports ourselves and most were within walking distance although there were taxis available. One negative comment would be our visit to Lanzarote. We wondered why so many of the people we spoke to were not getting of the ship that day. Those of us who did were back on the ship within a very short time as there was little to do in the tiny resort we visited (most of which was closed). We now have the 'cruising' bug and are looking for our next adventure. Read Less

We chose this cruise as there were three ports of call new to ourselves. Lido Deck Too large a comfortable seating area earmarked for smokers, particularly when public areas (on land) are discouraging the habit. Dining Surprisingly, choice of all three courses at dinner required when ordering. One does not always know whether one might even wish for a third course after the first and second courses but, if so required, the third course should then be allowed to be chosen accordingly. Lido Buffet 'Frozen' pats of butter taking 10 minutes + to soften and thus able to be spread by which time one's toast was even colder! Though 'Freedom Diners' we ate dinner in the Lido Buffet on several evenings as the menu was just as good as the Meridian Restaurant, without the waiter service of course. Sun Deck subjected to falls of soot particularates causing sun bathers to scatter and the Lido Pool to be temporarily closed for cleaning. Admittedly these are fairly inconsequential points, none of which spoilt our cruise but, nevertheless, may be worthy of note for the powers that be. We appreciate that everyone can't be pleased and conscious that there's a great deal to organise and be responsible for and for that we were grateful and contributed to a generally enjoyable cruise. Thank you. Read Less

Embarkation - went quickly and smoothly, we had no problem with the alcohol we were brining on board at all - a box of wine, several bottles of wine and many mall bottles of gin, rum and port. At ports we had no problem bringing tonics and coke on board as our mixers. We have never sailed Cunard before, previously only sailing on more casual cruise ships, so were somewhat apprehensive about the dress code. Dress Code - The apprehension was missplaced completely. In the two week cruise there were 3 ball nights, and we knew the ladies and gents dress codes for them. Apart from that, if you were going to eat in the main Brittania restaurant men had to wear trousers, jacket and shirt (no tie necessary) and ladies normal smart going out clothes. If you wanted to wear jeans and t-shirt and stay completely casual, you could eat in the Lido buffet and drink in the Golden Lion pub, but could not go to the ball room, other bars, the main Brittania restaurant or the theatre. Some nights we stayed completely casual. Staff customer service - staff always had a smile and a 'good morning/afternoon/evening' whenever they walked past you or dealt with you. We had an enquiry at embarkation when a case was missing. The customer service team where friendly and helpful, finding the case within 10 minutes. Our cabin steward was friendly and welcoming, keeping our cabin immaculate and was always able to bring additional towels or other items we wanted without delay. Other facilities - there was access to several lauderies on the ship, and these were free!! This included the washing powder as well. The laundry included washers, dryers, washing sink, iron and ironing board. An invaluable resource on a cruise of 14 nights. State of the ship - the ship was kept spotless and any faults seemed to be sorted quickly - there was some water ingress in the ceiling of the central buffet area in the Lido. When in port the ship looked stunning and traditional in comparison to other cruise ships. The decor of the ship is art deco, with lovely wood panelled interiors and themed art work for each stair well. Food - there was excellent choice in the Lido buffet most of the time, ranging from early breakfast, main breakfast, snacks, lunch, afternoon tea, early main tea, later main tea, to later evening snacks (till 1.30am). There was shortages of some items, such as the clotted cream for the afternoon tea, hot chocolate drinks, earl grey teabags etc during the last few days - The main Brittania restaurant, we were on early sitting at 6.00pm, also had at least 4 - 6 choices for starter, main and dessert. On one occasion my daughter and I could not decide which dessert we wanted, and then asked if we could order two each - no problem at all. You left the restaurant feeling pleasently full but not stuffed. - There were snack options during the day available in the Cafe Carinthia. Lunch and dinner were also available in the Golden Lion Pub, we enjoyed Friday fish and chips at lunch time here. Waiter served afternoon tea was available on sea days in the Queends Room, this is not to be missed as the sandwich and cake selection is extremely appetising. We also use the Lido grill, deck 9 stern, at lunch time for fish, burgers and chips etc. - We did not try any of the paid restaurants and were not grills passengers. Room Service - On some mornings, and one evening, we chose to have breakfast and dinner in our cabin. It was such a treat being able to be served just what you wanted for breakfast rather than get up and queue up. The evening menu was not as varied, burgers and pizzas mainly. The room service menu was included in the cruise and not an additional extra, which was very good. Drinks - the bars and deck bars were all welcoming and very good, and we did treat ourselves to an occasional glass of wine with dinner, cocktail at sail away, or cider/beer in the evening or day time. The only issue, is that with the value of the pound to the dollar the cost of drinks is very expensive, especially if you are from the north east of England! If we had not brought our own wine, gins, rums and ports on board, plus mixers, it would have been a somewhat dry cruise! Entertainment - the theatre was exceptional, with proper theatre tiered seating, boxes and an exceptional theatre orchestra!! The ships crew were good (but not exceptional) in the two shows we saw them do. We also saw The Opera Boys both times they performed, they were brilliant. We say a violinist once, she was excellent. There was also a pianist/commedian, Jon Courtenay for the last nights of the cruise who was extremely good. The ball room/Queens Room was a bit of a let down as it was almost like a corridor between the front and back of the ship to one side separating the seating, and there was not enough seating for the passengers who wanted to enjoy the dancing most evenings. There was a ball room orchestra as well, who were also excellent. We did attend some dancing classes during the day and put our steps into practice in the evening when we could. There are some very serious dancers on board, so it did make it a bit awkward for novice dancers if they felt they were getting in the way. Other entertainment we enjoyed was the band Next Steps, both on sailaway celebrations and at the Yacht Club. Also, most evenings, we attended, and enjoyed, quizes in the Garden Lounge and later in the Golden Lion pub - we even won the Husband and Wife quiz in the Golden Lion. As you wandered around the ship in the evening there were other muscians and ensembles to enjoy listening to, such as pianist Andy Law in the Golden Lion, who could play/sing anything. Sea days - My daughter and husband thoroughly enjoyed the talks by Robin Scagett, about astronomy, space and time - my daughter, as a primary teacher she took a lot away from those talks. My daughter and I both enjoyed the inspiring John Peters talk and question/answer session. There was another speaker throughout the cruise, but we did not attend his talks. I went to the beginners bridge classes with Chris Jarosz, which was pitched at the right level. I attended on my own and that was a slight problem as many others attended as a couple, but Chris found solutions to this. I certainly hope to continue to learn bridge. Otherwise, I loved the afternoon social craft group in the Garden Lounge. I did also treat myself to an afternoon in the spa pool, warm loungers and steam rooms but I did not have any spa treatments. My husband attended the ships choir, who gave a wonderful performance on the last sea day. He made many friends through this group. I would say that all but one of the passengers we encountered, or met through groups, were lovely, engaging and warm people and came from all over the world. Aside from what we did, there was a wealth of activities to enjoy on sea days, outside there was a full bowling green and other outdoor sports, plus two swimming pools and 4 bubble pools. Indoors, there were card tables, board games, puzzles and puzzle tables, and a two story library that gave out daily quizes, cross words and sudoko. If you just wanted to relax, there were lots of indoor and outdoor quite areas to relax, read and sleep. Disembarkation - we were going to take our own luggage off, but a very experienced cruiser said to put it out, and explained that at the port luggage was arranged by deck number. She said that you could take yourself off at your own convenience rather than follow the instructions if you wanted to make an early get away - we had a long drive back up north, so got off at 9.00am, and collected our luggage very easily ready for the pre booked taxi back to collect our car from the hotel. Overall, we would definately cruise with Cunard again. A thoroughly enjoyable cruise with excellent choice of activities, ports that we wanted to visit and the chance to meet some fantastic people. Our party only did one shore excursion, my daughter and our friend did the segway in Copenhagen and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was $99, which I could have booked on my own for about $79, but not for the times that were best for our days plans. As my daughter and our friend were novice cruisers we felt better leaving them in the care of the excursion team. Read Less

Second time on QM2 & first since a supposed re-furbishment. As always Cunard smugly bang on about their heritage with artefacts & pictures everywhere yet overall the Cunard experience whilst generally very good it's not 'that' special. Cabin immaculate except that the wooden ornamental balcony railing had come adrift from its metal frame. As to be expected public areas including lounge & bar areas immaculate & rather grand - with one exception ( see later ). Britannia dining room staff utterly charming & food was fine but evening meals taken to the accompaniment of frequent screeching of babies or hyper-active infants not Cunard's fault of course, but why take babies on a cruise it's not a floating creche? The self-service café or Kings Court or whatever still has all the ambience of a 1960's Wimpy bar with many seats in a sort of corridor or in bay windows that have some sort of blue tint on them - weird. The Kings Grille always empty & on the sole occasion I ventured there to get a cheese burger it was tasteless (the burger that is). McDonalds could teach Cunard a thing or two. Food from the café was never ever hot enough, so much so I played safe & stuck to cold meats etc. Given that class division is so obvious on the ship I doubt whether those in Princess or Queens Grille class would ever risk soiling their Gucci loafers in such a place. A certain aspect of the posh Commodore/commode Club was a disgrace. In several places the wood edging to the window apertures had split, come adrift & hanging loose. The inside of the toilet door adjacent to the library was covered in rust. It seems the QM2 is long overdue for it's next mild re-furb. Theatre entertainment was obviously on a low budget e.g. a shrieking girl singer & a so so conjuror/comedian - all a bit village hall I fear. BUT...a guitar concert was a joy as was a talk in the picture gallery. Good selection of day time activities too. Places visited were second time around so need to be ripped-off by over-priced excursions. Took lots of my own photographs including a photograph of a photograph taken with the captain - $35 for one print ! - no way Cunard. However enough good points to be looking forward to next booked Cunard cruise but NOT on QM2. Read Less

Have travelled with P & O several times and although there have been issues, we have returned as they do represent good value for money, up until now that is. 16 day Baltic Cruise on Arcadia, first time on this ship and tips now included. BIG MISTAKE!! Ship was tired, maintenance work forever going on around the deck, why do we pay for a holiday to have this, should be in dock to get it done. Staff were deplorable, couldn’t care less, never saw our maid for the first 2 days after which she would shout along the corridor to her colleague at 7.30 in the morning. Had to speak to her about this several times. Freedom dining was a farce, only dined there 4 times in 16 days as the wait was at least 30-40 minutes after which the table service was even worse. First night it took 3 hours to complete our meal. Food was acceptable but totally boring. Resorted to the Belvedere “café” for the remainder of the days where the waiting staff couldn’t even be bothered to supply us with water of an evening. The food here was shocking, totally mixed up, fried cod in batter next to curry dishes so had to go elsewhere if you wanted chips. Too salty and the same old thing night after night. Couldn’t get ice cream, imagine that. Our cabin wasn’t clean either, spilled stuff on ledges was still there after the whole holiday and it wasn’t our spillage either. Toilets around the ship were mostly blocked and out of order and nothing being done about it. Norovirus broke out the last week. Thankfully never caught it due to being careful. Entertainment was boring, no guest acts, no-one we had ever heard of, they usually have someone of renown but not this time, never attended one show. The cruise itinerary was good though and we enjoyed all the ports although Fredericia was our least favourite. We only booked trips in St. Petersburg for obvious reasons (no visa needed) and they were fine although the evening river cruise was like an old ex serviceman’s outing, all old tables on an old boat, one glass of sweet plonk and the nibbles were inedible to me. The shuttle bus to town from the ship in places that were too far to walk was £4 per person each way, a total rip off and P & O homed in on this knowing there was little choice for us. I could write a book on this cruise. All in all it was like a cheap package holiday to Spain. They stress when booking that no logo clothes or words to that effect are to be worn but there were plenty about the ship and no-one ever attempted to do anything about it. Will look forward to trying a better cruise line next time. Read Less

We don’t normally cruise during school holidays but did so after making a fairly late booking following the lifting of travel restrictions for my wife following a medical condition. I have to say, we won’t be booking in school holidays again. The ship was very crowded with I believe record numbers on board and it did have a detrimental effect in some areas, especially if you wanted a sunbed, and you didn’t mind being packed like sardines. Contrary to some reviews, we didn’t experience any problems with the youngsters except for the odd shenanagins with the lifts, if fact the ones we spoke to were very polite. We found the food onboard perfectly fine, with a huge selection in the buffet. The main dining room was ok, the portions were not too big, but you could always ask for more. We found drinks very expensive, but luckily for us we had an inclusive drinks package with our booking which saved us money big time. Entertainment was hit & miss, they had some good comedians, Jon Courtney being the highlight, but they had a truly dreadful one, I think he had come straight from the Apollo Theatre, and one of a long line of unfunny comedians of that ilk. Excursions were truly expensive, our advice is to do your own thing, you will save pounds. As for the shuttle prices, they really are a rip off. Having said all that, we enjoyed our cruise, our cabin was fine and the staff are brilliant. Embarkation and disembarkation are the best we have encountered on any cruise line. We will sail with Celebrity again but out of school holidays. Read Less

We are a married couple in early 60's. We booked this because we prefer Royal Caribbean for it's informal yet not too rowdy atmosphere. The cruise ticked all the boxes. There were over 900 kids running around which noised things up a bit but what do you expect when you book a cruise during the school holidays. Big shout out to Hello Clo, the best cruise director RC have in my opinion. She was always visible about the ship and such a cheery person We did notice a few slight issues. First is the lack of bar staff and waiters, particularly in the Schooner bar. Poor guys there were run off their feet. Again I noticed that the numbers attending the main dining room seem to be getting ever lower and the Windjammer is always mobbed. Is anyone at RC seeing this ? Perhaps it is time to convert the 3 MDR floors to a buffet and put the MDR on deck 11 - only a suggestion. We are Diamond plus members and as such have access to the Diamond and Concierge lounges. If RC are going to provide these lounges for 24 hour access, can they please ensure the coffee machine is always stocked. We regularly went up for a late night coffee only to find out the kitchen was closed and told if we wanted coffee to go downstairs to the Promenade cafe. Sort of defeats the purpose of having 24 hour lounges. Also, with regard to the music guy Perry singing in the Schooner bar at night. It was always mobbed right into the corridor and you simply couldn't move or get past. While upstairs, the much larger Star lounge was empty. Again I ask, is anyone at RC paying attention to things like this ? And we know people don't do trivia for the prizes. But to give out the same prize ( yellow highlighters ) again and again got a bit boring. Surely it wouldn't cost too much to give out the odd cap, T-shirt, pen, key ring, etc Read Less

we chose this cruise as it was short and e073 cabin was available read on bigest problem with cabin,the embarkation was a shambles the trips were poorly organised went to cherbourg on Bastille day evertwhwere was closed next stop santander no courtesy bus into town very long walk bearing in mind this cruise is mainly for older folks with walking difficulties do P&O care no they dont,we all know how the British love to queue well P&O love people to do that the whole standard of thic cruise company sadly has dropped,they seem to be theonly ship that use a lorry and crain to get the disembarkation gangways fixed seems every thing is being done on the cheap,the only nice thing i can say about this cruise ai that the food was good apart from the piles of green beans, most of the staff were good but not all as we have found before,didnt like the constant smell of paint round the ship painting every day with a radiator roller and one inch brush probably why it takes so long Read Less

Just completed a 14 day cruise to Norway and Iceland. It was our best cruise yet, the stops were great, especially in Iceland. We met some great folks and as usual the staff were top quality. From the point we arrived in Southampton everything ran like clockwork, its so easy to embark. The food on board is excellent wherever you decide to eat. we mostly went to Horizon. The bars on board are great, we used Churchill's mostly, its like being in your local at home, it tends to be quieter than the other bars. We did our on exploring in all ports, this is made easy as all stops had a tourist centre, and with some planning beforehand. The Platter and the Destination Expert Videos are very helpful. If I have any disappointment, then it was the last 3 days at sea. It was good to relax, but another stop on way home would have broken up the time. Next years cruise booked on board, another good deal. Read Less