We took advantage of low prices for a last minute cruise. 'We' are myself, DW, DS who was celebrating his 21st birthday and my DM. We are all Elite members. This was my 22nd cruise.

After a nail biting start where our flight from London was delayed by 2 ½ hrs we arrived at the pier. It was possibly the worst boarding experience we have had. Chaos! Someone decided to stop guests from both Silhouette and the MSC cruise from using the escalators up to the 1st floor check in so there were hundreds of people backed up. When we did get upstairs there were 2 lines, one for Elites, suites, AQ and Concierge, and one for the rest. Both lines seemed to move at a similar pace. It took almost an hour to board.

Once onboard the ship was as stunning as her sisters. Spotlessly clean, well laid out and no crowding. Many areas we noticed were either unused or under-used. The Cabanas were empty all cruise and are a blot on the wonderful views from the Lawn Club; Michaels Club is now soulless (and empty apart from the night when they showed the Champions League Final), the Molecular Bar had no drinkers, Cellar Masters was also empty for the duration....by contrast the Martini Bar and the Hideaway were always busy .....perhaps on any new ships they should remove all other venues and devote half the ship to be the MB and half to be the Hideaway! Our cabin was very close the Hideaway.. it was like having our own private coffee shop! Read more