OUR GROUP -- After spending 6 months in Florida we were travelling home to the UK for the summer with our two married daughters and their DHs plus a 19 month old grandson. For one daughter and family it was their first cruise and for the other her second. My DW and I have cruised on two previous occasions. One part of the family had flown into FFL from the UK the night before embarkation and the other part of the family had been staying with us in our Florida holiday home for the previous week. The younger daughter and family (travelling with us) did not know that her older sister (flown in the night before from the UK) would also be on board for the journey home to the UK as we had kept it as a secret. We had planned that the surprise would be unveiled on deck 11 outside the Windjammer where we would be having our embarkation lunch. This was a very emotional occasion with joyful tears being shed when the two sisters did meet up at the pre-planned point and the long kept and at times difficult to keep secret was revealed. EMBARKATION was very professionally handled. We had our Sea Pass completed on-line in advance of arriving at Fort Lauderdale so we sped through and were on board having lunch in the Windjammer on deck 11 at 12 noon, about 30 minutes after arriving for embarkation. Cabins were not accessible until 1.00 oclock but there was an area close to the gangway on board where hand luggage could be tagged and left before being taken up later to the cabins by crew members.

CABINS -- We had a GS category cabin and it was extremely comfortable with a huge balcony. We will find it very hard to go to a lesser category cabin after experiencing this level of comfort. Our daughters and family had D1 category cabins also on deck 10. These were very adequate with suitable balconies and even with a babys crib in one of them were reasonably roomy. Our suite attendant (Geedee) was from Bali and performed his duties in a friendly and efficient manner. The animal towels on the bed most evenings were terrific.

CONCIERGE -- As a GS category cabin holder we qualified for the Concierge Lounge which although small was very adequate for its purpose. The concierge was a charming South African gentleman called Mpho who performed his tasks admirably and was always very helpful. Cocktails were served each evening between 5.30 and 8.30 with a good selection of hot and cold canopies. 24/7 coffee and tea was also available as well as a continental breakfast and lunch time snacks. Because of problems I had linking up my laptop computer to the ships Internet wireless system, Mpho arranged for me to have gratis, dial-up facilities in my cabin. Although very slow it met my needs and allowed me to keep in touch with the outside world during the whole trip. THE JOURNEY This was a 14 night re-positioning cruise with stops in Bermuda, Lisbon (Portugal), Vigo (Spain), Le Harvre (France) and Zeebrugger (Belgium) before disembarkation in Harwich (England). There were plenty of sea days, seven I think in total and the seas were generally very calm. The ports of call were all interesting with opportunities to tour in the countries of the ports of call. As someone from the UK we were quite familiar with the European countries visited so did not take any special tours. We did however undertake a four hour taxi cruise of Bermuda which was highly informative and fun. Read more