Excellent stateroom. Great to have a fully enclosed balcony. A bit like being in your own personal cave! Food was, as ever, plentiful and varied although I personally got bored with the breakfasts. There is only so much scrambled egg any person can stomach! Unusually for a Royal Carribean cruise, the shopping was quite poor and there was no option to buy alcohol etc for collection at the end of the vacation.

The entertainment was mixed. Excellent performances from magician Martin Daniels and hypnotist Chris Caress plus the wonderful vocal groups Viva Voce and The Overtures. Some of the other acts were distinctly 'cabaret' and definitely old-hat for 21st century audiences. The music provided in bars and communal areas was pretty poor and repetitive. Someone appeared to be singing 'You are the sunshine of my life' on a daily basis. As usual, the jazz club provided no jazz whatsoever. This seems to be a familiar complaint on many RC cruises.

The booked tours were great and RC always seem to find excellent tour guides. In some ports though, you can go it alone (Barcelona, Cannes). Valencia was dreadful and at times confusing to do on your own o book a tour for that one! Read more