We picked this cruise for a few reasons. The dates were perfect, the price was good and who doesn't want two weeks in the Caribbean. Was slightly concerned as I have food allergies, but I have to say, the chef was amazing. He made sure that everything I ate was safe for me to do so. 10/10 definitely, even had my own bread made for me.. can't thank him enough. Really excellent embarkation and disembarking experience. Quick and easy. The Ship was not to large and had the right mixture of areas including, bars, restaurants, shops and entertainment areas. The entertainment crew were friendly and mixed with everyone. They worked really hard with the shows and Briana especially has an amazing voice. The ports were mostly ok, but 1 or 2 left much to be desired. Went for a walk in ST Kitts to be told by two police that we shouldn't walk that way as it wasn't a safe area !!! To turn around and go back to the shops. ST Maarten was lovely as was Aruba. One port had shops in port but outside nothing due to the recent cyclones, which they haven't recovered from as yet. But obviously not their fault, but maybe Tui should rethink sone ports of call. The Captain was approachable and made sure we all knew what was happening in an entertaining way. We really enjoyed our holiday overall thank you for an amazing two weeks Read Less

My wife and I chose this cruise based on Main Schiff reputation for excellence and because of the ports we would be visiting and the excursions available. I think the ports of call are great, and Main Schiff has a strength in being port heavy for travelers who like to maximize time exploring countries like me. There was good onboarding and offboarding during ports of call, organized and efficient. We would go back just to see some of the crew that waited on us they were so wonderful. We took mostly tours from independent operators as we got off the ship ... I loved all the different public rooms. So many places to gather and socialize. Service was excellent and the crew aimed to please. Nice! This was a great experience and would be lucky if we do it again. Gorgeous ship, great food, excellent service . Thank You !!! Read Less

I have read all the previous reviews and felt I had to make comment. I travelled with my mother and two teenage sons and we had a fantastic time. The boat was spotlessly clean and the staff were continually making sure it was ship shape. We had an aft cabin which was fantastic, two sun beds, table and chairs. The staff were lovely and nothing was too much bother for them. The food in the restaurant was lovely and service excellent. Granted the excursions were a little on the expensive side but they ran as smooth as clockwork and absolutely no queuing or hitches, Some of the tour guides were an absolute scream and made the trips. The evening entertainment in the show lounge was excellent, so professional coupled with waiters continually meeting your every need, who could ask for more.I would have no hesitation in booking another Tui discovery cruise and I have recommended it to friends who have already booked for next year. Read Less

The fact that it was a German-speaking cruise and we have very little German did not matter since all crew speak English. Safety announcements are also in English. This was our first-ever cruise and we were truly amazed at the quality of everything. Staff: The crew are well selected, well trained, friendly, and clearly happy in their jobs. Food: The main Atlantik restaurant is first class. Excellent quality food amazingly well prepared. The buffet is very good indeed too. The 24-hour burger bar was disappointing. We also tried the "fine dining" restaurant, Richards, and found it pretentious – a mismatched array of fruits, flowers and herbs prettying every dish – and over-priced. We ate far better in the Atlantik. Bars: Excellent choice of ambiance and a very full range of drinks, alcoholic and not. Service sometimes slow to get going in the evening. The X-Lounge (suite passengers only) was superb, but shut at 7pm – a real negative. Entertainment: Not all of the musicians seemed sufficiently experienced and/or talented. The shows in the theatre seemed of a very high standard but of course the comedy was lost on us. Accommodation: We had a junior suite, a very comfortable room of good size, with all facilities, cleaned twice per day. Cabin temperature fully adjustable. The furnished, spacious and secluded balcony was superb. Negatives: The wifi kept locking us out. This was quickly sorted by the staff each time but was a recurring nuisance. We were entitled to priority check-in and needed it (reduced mobility), but had to breach a barrier to get it. It wasn't available at all during the cruise at visited ports. We felt a little misled about this. Ideas for TUI: - Sell a day pass to the X-Lounge and keep it open longer. It's an under-used facility. Quiet is good but we were often on our own with the staff. - Make deck plans clearer. We kept finding our way was blocked (by the theatre etc.) - Designate at least one non-smoking outside area. We both developed coughs and the ship's doctor advised keeping the balcony door open as much as possible as the A/C is deliberately kept very dry to reduce virus infection etc. That sea air worked a treat. Some areas of the ship were stiflingly hot. Read Less

Just back from an atlantic crossing that we truly enjoyed. But please bear in mind that this has been my first cruise so I have no other point of reference. Mein Schiff 4 All of TUI cruises ships are named "Mein Schiff" and number 4 is the second newbuilt in the fleet. Since entering service in May 2015 the ship has been kept in top condition. The design is modern and pleasing to the eye. The dresscode is casual and there are no formal nights. "Premium All-Inclusive" TUI follows a concept were drinks and gratuities are included in the fare. This includes not only water or sodas but beer, wine, liqueur and cocktails. Alcohol at the bars is usually from household names in Germany and not no name alternatives. Of course you can pay for higher quality exclusive wines and liqueur, which are offered for reasonable prices, or choose one of the for pay specialty restaurants. But for us it makes for a more relaxing experience when you need not think about money when ordering a drink and presenting your card or signing receipts all the time. Junior suite and associated perks Junior suites are roughly 1.5x the size of a standard balcony stateroom at 26 m2 plus a balcony of 8 m2. We liked that all of the suite felt spacious, including the bathroom and the veranda. On top of that extra space suite pax get a couple of perks, some of which we liked a lot: - priority counter at embarkation, bypassing the queue. There has been no difference regarding disembarkation - access to the X-lounge & X-sundeck, see below - a complimentary mini-bar which is restocked twice a day plus unlimited capsules for your personal nespresso machine - free unlimited Wi-Fi, quite nice considering the current price of online packages aboard Mein Schiff - reception with the Captain and a number of officers on the first evening The X-lounge features both an indoor and outdoor area, facing to the bow of Mein Schiff 4. A concierge is there to help you including booking excursions and you'll find freshly printed german newspapers right on time for breakfast. Service is charming and unobtrusive, though not flawless. A nice buffet with snacks on small plates & fresh fruits is available all during the day, including complimentary caviar and champagne (Pommery). The lounge opens for breakfast which is available from 7 to 10 am. While most of it is buffet style your omelett, eggs benedict etc. will be served. The X-lounge used to close at 7 pm but a dinner option with four courses has been introduced just a couple of month ago which we often chose if we had no reservation for one of the specialty restaurants. You choose the main course which is served at your table whereas starters, soup and desserts are buffet style. Passenger information system & WiFi The on board information system can be accessed once you connect to the ships WiFi network. This web based system is free of charge so all your devices from smartphones to notebooks are good to go without downloading any apps. You get the same information as on the TV in your stateroom but we found it far easier to use via browser. Booked excursions, account balance etc. are password protected. Signal quality is good throughout the ship including outside areas and even our suites balcony. Good handover between access points without the need for a new login. BUT logging into the internet is cumbersome and has you clicking through five screens even if your browser fills in your credentials. That would be ok if afterwards you could surf for as long as you'd like. However, there is a forced logout roughly every 45 minutes with you having to repeat this process over and over again. This occurs at fixed times so it may happen just a few minutes after logging in that you are kicked out again. It is terribly annoying. Food & drinks According to my wife (I drink tea only) the machine made "coffee" in the self serving restaurant Anckelmannsplatz as well as the 24h cafeteria does not deserve its name. A different type of machine at the bakery station ("Backstation") brews a drinkable alternative. Good coffee is available in the serviced restaurants and bars, but the best has been served in the X-lounge. She did not try the for pay coffee lounge. We rate the quality of the food and of the service at the three serviced restaurants as (very) good but not excellent. The food in the buffet style restaurant was good as well but we found it to loud and did not like the atmosphere. The quality of the food is notably better in the for pay restaurants. This holds true for the service as well, to a large part probably due to a better staff-ratio. - "Richard's feines Essen" is a gourmet style restaurant. While service was impeccable and food great we prefer a more down to earth atmosphere. - Despite being advertised as japanese "Hanami" does offer dishes not only from Japan but a mix of asian cuisine. We thought that some of the dishes were tuned too much towards a german/western taste. Sushi was excellent though. - We liked the "Surf & Turf" steakhouse best with its diverse meat offerings on display for you to choose from, the perfectly done steaks and other dishes as well as the excellent service. The atmosphere created by the whole team made it so much more enjoyable to eat there. Please note that some of the hot starters are nearly enough for a main course. If you sample just one of the for pay restaurants, we strongly recommend you visit Surf & Turf. Weather permitting we found the outside tables to be an additional plus. There is a gourmet package available for 75 Euro per person to sample each of the specialty restaurants. Included are a four course dinner in both the Surf & Turf and the Hanami and a six course meal at Richard's. Signature dishes in each of the restaurants demand an extra fee, ie. Shabu Shabu in Hanami and Wagyu beef at the steakhouse. Drinks are not included in any of the specialty restaurants. We do not drink wine but liked the cocktails. The included alcohol for example Jim Bean or Johnnie Walker are usually household names in Germany. High quality liqueur is available and reasonably priced like 4 to 6 Euro for a good single malt scotch (4 cl). Have a look at the different bars as there are some whiskys available which are not included on the standard bar menus and not all venues carry the same bottles. Spa & pools There are several saunas with different temperatures available, some of which feature big one way mirrors for a great view. Use of them is free of charge. The relaxing area is facing to the bow and has outside loungers as well. This being a predominantly german ship you should be aware that people are naked in the mixed saunas and some like to tan in the nude while relaxing outside, too. Massages have been a mixed bag. Both my wife and I had three massages each and both of us like them to be done as close to medical standards as possible as opposed to just a caressing with annoying spherical music in the background. She can recommend Gernot, who did a good one and seems to have taken a comprehensive education to give medical massages. Another one of hers was ok and one not so good. For me it has been two ok ones and one miss. We did not try the gym, courses or beauty parlor. The longest pool at sea is great for swimming laps at off times but can be crowded during the day. On sea days it can be challenging to find free outside deckchairs unless you arrive early, especially when looking for ones in the shade, but you could always find a place in one of the two hot tubs without them getting crowded. There is a smaller indoor pool which we did not use. On-board activities - Sushi workshop: a lot of work had already been done for you. All ingredients had already been cut and were beautifully layed out and you were guided through the process of assembling your own california roll, maki roll and two nigiri. The presentation has been a little lacklustre and not much information was given on top of the necessary instructions. - Cocktail workshop: contrary to the sushi one this was very good and entertaining thanks to Mehmet and Edim. It is aimed at beginners though. - Whisky tasting: with proper nosing glasses, dark chocolate and water the tables had been set up well for seven single malt whiskys covering most of the Scottish whisky regions. We would have liked more peated ones in the sample, but were clearly part of the minority as reactions to the Lagavulin showed. This tasting is aimed at participants who are new to the world of whisky but Julia has been an enthusiastic presenter and it was a very entertaining crowd. Recommended. Entertainment The Klanghaus, advertised as the only concert hall at sea, is a really nice venue. I listened to a piano trio there and the sound is very good indeed. The main act during this cruise was solo pianist Joja Wendt who performed for one evening. His show in the main theater was quite entertaining and he did a good job of working with the audience, but he included many popular pieces and would be the wrong choice if you mainly wanted to listen to classical piano pieces only. The only other show we saw in the theater has been the crew show which we liked a lot. More seasoned travellers mentioned that the number of acts used to be higher on past cruises but that did not spoil things for us. Cruise director Stephan Zimmermann did a tremendous job as a host. Itinerary We had chosen this Atlantic crossing from Mallorca via Gibraltar and the Canary Islands to the carribean specifically to include a lot of sea days and for us this has been the right decision. The choice of ports (Domenica, St. Kitts / Nevis, St. Maarten, Tortola) were interesting to us but this being our first time to the carribean everything was new and exciting anyway. Excursions Being lazy we did not venture on our own and had booked excursions at all ports. We feel that on average they were neither cheap nor a rip-off but bear in mind that we did not research local guides and tour operators and thus cannot judge prices in comparison. All in all we were satisfied with the tours with the exception of the tour by cable car to the top of Mt. Teide on Tenerifa. Upon approaching the valley station we were told that it could not operate due to wind conditions. That would have been ok if it just happened. But later we learned that this information had already been available at the time our trip was about to start. The main reason for choosing that trip forfeited before we got rolling we would have liked to be given the chance to decide for something different than an artificially elongated bus ride trying to make up for the time usually spent on Mt. Teide. Not only us but a lot of the participants of this trip complained and it seems the fare of the cable car tickets got reimbursed to at least all who did. Fellow travellers on our Atlantic crossing started with toodlers but the majority of guests were 50+. There were only a small number of kids aboard for a ship of this size all of which seemed to be younger than six years as there were no school holidays in Germany. I can't judge whether TUI cruises is especially LGBT friendly, but there have been a number of gay and lesbian couples on board. Most of the travelers being germans acted true to the cliché and on average weren’t overly outgoing types. To wrap things up: Is it worth the money? Would we recommend it for someone who does not speak german? TUI markets Mein Schiff as premium but not luxury and in our view this is exactly what you get, with the X-lounge and the specialty restaurants being above average. We would expect service to have fewer glitches, better food in the buffet restaurant and generally some more bells and whistles on a true luxury cruise. Having said that, we truly loved our time aboard and think that it is worth its price. The same holds true for our junior suite with its included perks, which we found very nice indeed. The Mein Schiff fleet caters almost exclusively to cruisers who speak german. We have not seen any information in english with just two exceptions during our cruise. The first one being english language subtitles in the emergency drill video and the second one an announcement via PA for a crew drill. However, you would not expect information in english to be available everywhere when travelling in Germany on your own either. I suppose your experience on board would be similar in a way. The staff usually speak english as a second language at least and with some of them it is better than their german. Many germans can speak at least some english, too, and are happy to practice when being approached. But do not expect to find someone to exchange witty remarks with easily. Read Less

Outstanding cruise... we booked the junior suite, huge room, balcony and bathroom, free mini-bar and gifts almost every night (chocolate, lotions, herbal teas, etc.). Access to the X-lounge, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks fully covered. Great restaurants, Palatial gym, super shows... Staff was really friendly and helpful... The ships are German so the primary language is German. However all the staff speak English and safety announcements are made in both German and English. There were several English, Italian and French speakers on the cruise and we had no problems understanding the crew... Also, no room service - but there is a bistro open 24/7. Basically, the best cruise we've ever had. We liked it so much we are going back on another cruise next year... I recommend this cruise line to anyone, don't worry about the German language... Read Less

Since we live in Malta and the cruise was a Malta to Malta one, the holiday started early in the day. We boarded the ship in the morning and could easily go round the ship while it was still uncrowded. Cabins and luggages were ready in the afternoon but in the meantime, we enjoyed the nice food and drinks. The cruise is 'all inclusive' and therefore it was very comfortable and all barmen around the ship were nice and helpful. At first we were a bit reluctant sailing on an all-German ship since we are English speaking and no knowledge of German. However, this was not much of a setback because many of the crew speak English and we were very welcome when dining at a restaurant, with the waiter handing us the menu in English. Every bar we went to was an English list of drinks indicating which were inclusive and which were not so this added to us being relaxed. The only thing that we could not follow were announcements because these were not spoken in English. However, we were told that should there be an emergency, the announcement would be relayed in English. We greatly enjoyed the fact that it is a freestyle dining and food in both the inclusive restaurants and the buffet were of very good quality. The entertainment was mostly in German, and attended only the ones including dancing (no language) and singing (mainly in English), and these were of a very good standard. Cabin are spacious which was very welcome and services by all staff is of good quality and standard. The excursions were organised by our travel agent in Malta and were conducted in English so, again, no language barrier there. Both embarkation and disembarkation were orderly conducted and this added to excellent rating of the company. All in all, the cruise, although dearer than other cruises Malta to Malta, was comfortable and outstanding Read Less

There are not so many reviews about this cruise line here, so it was very difficult to find some information about it. If yes, most of them was in german language. OK, this cruise line caters german speaking passengers. Main and only language on board is German language. Everything - menus in restaurants, daily news sheet, theater programme...For me is english only holiday language and from german I know only basic... After cruise I can tell, do not worry about it. Staff´s language on board is english and they are ready to help you at any moment, many passengers speak english too, so language bareer was realy minor problem. It was for the first time we sailed in Emirates and Oman territory. The ports of calls were only four - Dubai, Khor Fakkan, Muscat and Abu Dhabi. All of them are interesting and show different face of this part of world - modern from 22 th century and more traditional too. Embarkation process in Dubai was easy - no more then 3 minutes. Everything except photos was prepared in advance, process was like in other ships before. It is possible to go to the ship at 8:00AM !!!, The cabins were ready at 2:00PM. All ship looks like new, in very modern design, in light and fresh colours. In your price is everything included - tips, premium drinks except some onboard activities like spa.The ship has its own bicycles for land excursions in every port. Very good for active people. The catering is in high level. Premium brand hams, cheeses, spirits, very good quality of food. Buffet restaurant has plenty of free places, never was problem to find free table. I like the concept of asia buffet, when you choose ingredients for food, cook give you beeper with number of plate and after food is prepared, you got signal - your plate is ready. Main dinning room has free seating and timing, not wide menu, but food is nice presented and realy good prepared. The portions are not big, what was perfect for us. From 10:00AM is open ice cream corner - I never see on ship so wide choose of creams and toppings. On ship there are more possibilities for fine dinning with additional cost. All bars are very nice with great choose of drinks. In our cruise were two musician bands onboard, they play everything from german pop songs to jazz. The quality of program in theater was little bit amateurish, maybe little bit better if you understand german. We had inside cabin 5057. It was very good, close to reception, lifts and TUI bar. The sound proofing was very good, bed give us comfortable sleep. It was enough space for two persons, everything looks new. There is Nespresso machine in room with free capsules On the sundeck there are many sunloungers - we found everytime some free and ship was full in our cruise. 2 sea days were fine, some decent programm on board and everyday the food presentation on board - barbeque, cakes, fruits of the sea /oysters too../and many more. We take one excursion with ship - in Muscat, Oman to sheik Quabos Mosque and old town and it was well prepared, good priced, in english with german translation. Highligts of the cruise - best food we had on cruise ever, land tours to Muscat and Abu Dhabi mosques - both are a must, beach day in Oceanic hotel Khor Fakkan...and perfect rest on board -evenings full of dances under the stars, polite and nice staff. Dissembarkation is till 11:00AM , but it is possible to buy day pass and spent last day i Dubai onboard till 6:00PM for a little fee. We spent few pre and post cruise days in Dubai, so activities in Dubai we made before and after cruise. The price we paid for this cruise was worth every penny /749 Euro/ person - inside cabin 5057/ and I can recomend this cruise for english speaking passengers too who want to see something different of carribean cruises. OK they must be open for something new.   Read Less

We traveled on Mein Schiff and . Was a fantastic vacation for a family from the cold Midwest!!! A little background... We were a group of 7ppl - ages 5 to 59, I myself am a 34 year old female. This was my 16th cruise, first on Mein Schiff for my whole family. Previously tried Carnival, Disney, Princess and a diamond RCCL member. I love food, I love good shows and I love good service. This is why I/we cruise! Our van driver picked us up at 11am from the hotel, only 15 minute ride to port. We were greeted by porters immediately and were thru the terminal and check in quickly. Waited for a short while in the holding area for our number to be called. Total from drop off outside about 40 minutes. The main pool is very small. I'd be tempted to say tiny in fact. While there are an abundance of pool chairs all over the deck above the pool, the space by the actual pool is either covered or wasted space. It was disappointing for a ship that size. Most of the typical "pool space" gets hogged up by the Haven (super suite members) or the ginormous water slides. Yes my family thought the slides were fun but after the few minutes of fun on the slides, there was no space for them in the packed-in-like-sardines pool. The kids area is nice, also small, with no chairs in the sun. The Nickelodeon splash pool was packed all week. I did see several children in swim diapers in that pool, pretty sure that wasn't supposed to be allowed. The Garden Cafe was very typical cruise ship buffet. Go way to the back and it's less busy!!! We never had a problem finding seating. I will mention, the salad bar was always very fresh and my brother said the Indian food was fantastic Morning omelet/egg station is great too. Side note-- One of the first things I noticed was the hand sanitizer EVERYWHERE. Crew has spray bottles and there are standing dispensers all over. I appreciated that as I personally know people that have fallen to the masses of norovirus passengers on a cruise ship before. The sanitizer continued to be everywhere the whole week . Cabins were ready by 1pm. We had an interior cabin on deck 11 aft. My parents had a standard balcony on deck 11 aft also so I will make mention of both. Our interior cabin was the smallest cabin I have ever seen on any ship. And it was equipped with 2 pull down beds to sleep up to 4ppl. Wowza. No drawers at all anywhere. A few cubbies proved to be a space gold mine. At first glance we thought "no way we can unpack for 3 people in this cabin". Somehow, we did fully unpack 3 large suitcases and a carry on. I'm still unsure how. There were about 18" of space on either side of the bed, a nightstand on each side. With the pull down beds above the side of bed, smacking your head as you try to wedge beside the bed is likely (speaking from experience, ow). Bathroom was average size for our cabin category. Shower is a tad larger than the rounded capsules on RCCL or Carnival. And there is a little foot pedestal to help with shaving your legs, nice touch! Dispensers are in shower with shampoo and body wash. And a dispenser by sink with hand soap, no bar soap. 2 outlets by vanity only, none in the bathroom, I recommend bringing a small outlet plug in with additional spaces if you plug in multiple electronics to charge at night like we do. Note about cabin electricity --- you have to place a key card or credit card, etc in the main light switch to power your cabin. If you take that card out at night, your outlets go dead also and nothing will charge! We saved our pre cruise hotel key card so that we could always have a card in that slot. The room attendant didn't have a problem with us keeping our hotel key card in the slot, either. The one or two times we pulled our hotel key card before dinner, he put it back in so that the lights were on and the room was cool when we returned. The balcony cabin was average sized, typical layout. There was a couch in this room, unlike our interior cabin. Same bathroom as interior. Slightly larger closet. A single cup coffee pot was a surprising and fun find! The balcony was the smallest I've ever seen in our travels. 2 metal chairs and a small metal table. But hardly any depth to the space at all...someone with long legs would probably bump their knees on the glass in front of them when sitting out there. We all had the same room steward - Oliver. He made us 5 different animal towels over the week and was very kind to our 5 year old daughter. He didn't always bring ice or remember wash cloths but hey, whatever. If we asked, he was on it right away. He clearly had a lot of rooms, we couldn't quite figure out if he got a break from 8am-10pm because we could always find him. He became our daughters buddy by the end of our cruise. He even left her a note and tiny towel sting ray the last night. I'm going to lump sea days together as we tend to do the same things. Eat/drink, sun bathe/swim, nap, eat/drink.... The towels-on-chairs pool hogs were rampant on this cruise. We were on the prowl for sun chairs by 9:00am each day. On the pool deck they were all "held with towels" by that time. We always went up a deck to find 3 chairs. Drink of the day was quite good, we tried them on sea days. Usually $6.95 so affordable. The NCL mini fish bowl was a cute favorite. Lots of servers walking around often. Deals on buckets of beer or bottled water daily. Shopping on this ship is horrid. Selection is virtually nothing.MS tees, etc very limited or gaudy. Didn't buy anything onboard, except for 1 family photo we had taken. $25 for one 8x10. Photographers are everywhere as usual, however I felt they were slightly less annoying/pushy as I've experienced in the past. We did a group photo on day 6 and the photographer worked great with our group of 7 ppl and the pic was wonderful of everyone. FOOD Illusionarium food was a set menu. App was a procuttio caprese salad, dinner a surf and turf with steak fries and a mini dessert trio. The app was my favorite of the week and the surf and turf was very good and piping hot also. Kids get chicken fingers and fries. I heard some other passengers requesting a fish only option and received a garden greens salad and salmon main dish. Mein Schiff is clean and new looking still, coming upon her 1st anniversary sailing. Public areas are well appointed and each area unique. Savor and Taste are the 2 main dining areas, nearly identical, one blue tones, the other red. Theater is beautiful although rather small for a ship this size. No balcony seating at all in the theater. Shows fill up early, be there 40 minutes early for the good seats. Legally Blonde and Burn the Floor are both held in this theater. A side note about the casino-- on the last night, we were playing our usual machines, were done for the night and hit the button to cash out. Nothing happened. Long story short, right after we hit "cash out" all the machines went crazy and you couldn't cash out. They kept saying on the intercom "Machines all have a glitch, we are working on a fix. Please do not cash out. Keep playing if you can." Nice one NCL. We got an eye roll from a casino staffer when we said we had cashed out before the announcement. 15 minutes later and 2 forms completed, we had our cash out. My sister-in-law had another issue - she hit cash out approx 2 min before we did. She took her little $7 ticket to an automatic payment machine, stuck it in and nadda. A technician opened up the machine and said, "sorry there is not a $7 ticket stuck in here" and walked away. So she got a manager. He just gave her $15 of free slot play since he didn't know what else to do. Problem was -- with the machines all in a glitch, she couldn't use the free slot play until things were fixed. Pain in the rear. So she went back an hour later, and machines still were down. Being 10:30pm by now and the night before debarkation, she just said forget it. Thumbs down for casino service. There are many other little venues with treats for a fee or specialty restaurants that we never visited so I cannot comment on-- a coffee shop, gelato, bake shop, or Cagneys steakhouse, a Brazilian steakhouse, Le Bistro French restaurant, Teppaniyaki hibachi and more. Even an ice bar- which to just step foot inside you pay a $20 fee (that does include 2 drinks). Many offerings for that extra charge!! EXCURSIONS We booked 1 excursion online , we advice everyone to do the same , more cheap , and the experience will be geat , we booked only 1 shore excursion in Agadir Morocco , Ecolodge Adventures was our local company , the excursion was a walking tour from agadir To the Paradise Valley (high atlas mountains , nature, berber villages , rivers , the really beauty) , about 30 km maximum of walking , the tour was amazing , and we did not imagine that a city like Agadir will have such an amazing tour like that , many Thanks to Ecolodge Adventures staff , we were happy about your service . CONCLUSION As a pretty seasoned cruiser, we know the things we like and don't like by now. Would I sail Mein Schiff again, yes. We did enjoy it. And the ship was lovely. i also recommend Ecolodge Adventures services if your shp dock in Agadir Morocco . Read Less

I've never considered cruising to be something I would enjoy, however, when Wacken Open Air (German Heavy Metal Festival) announced the first Full Metal Cruise, my husband and I booked up straight away and we departed from Hamburg. The ship was wonderful, it was like living in a 5 star hotel with a music festival on the doorstep. The food was fantastic and although I'm vegetarian, I always found plenty of things I could eat, plenty of fruit and salad and a very good italian restaurant, where you could as many pizza toppings or pasta sauce ingredients as you liked. Wine and beer and soft drinks were free all day, with spirits and cocktails included after 6pm. There were a good choice of bars to drink in, one of which I only discovered on the last night. The staff were lovely and most spoke English, however, all announcements and written information was in German so we got a bit confused at times. Luckily a nice German passenger translated the lifeboat/safety announcement for us. I fully intend to go on Metal Cruise 2 in 2015 and I'm taking German lessons in preparation. I was worried about feeling seasick but I needn't have been as the ship was very stable and the only time I was really conscious of it moving was when it was turning to come into port. Embarkation took some time but I imagine this is normal when you have to check in so many people. We sat in the Hafen Cruise Centre and enjoyed the German lager until the crowds had gone down a bit anyway. I can't comment on fitness and recreation or enrichment activities as I was there for the music, which did not dissappoint. Regarding excursions, our first port of call was Southampton which is very near to Bournemouth, where we lived so there was not much point in us visiting Stonehenge or Salisbury, although the Germans enjoyed sightseeing. We went to Le Havre by shuttle bus from the port and also Amsterdam, where you can just walk to the city from the ship.   Read Less