We booked this trip because of its interesting itinerary, 3 nights in Genoa, followed by the cruise and ending with 3 nights in Cape Town. Previous reports of the ship were not very encouraging. Embarkation was a terrible start as it took 2 hours as previous reviewers have said. Surely it could have been handled better. However, once on board we were delighted to find the ship gleaming, elegant and comfortable. The staff were very friendly, everyone had a smile and all trying to make your voyage as enjoyable as possible. The food in the buffet was very good. Lots of fruit and salads. Plenty of choices at lunchtime for both hot and cold meals aiming to please different nationalities. All the different types of bread and rolls were very good indeed. Tea, coffee and iced water 24 hours a day somewhere on ship. Afternoon tea was a treat! The special events in the dining rooms e.g. the Italian Night were splendid with the staff giving their all. The service at second sitting in the dining rooms was very good and relaxed and you could have any table seating arrangement you wanted. On occasions the main course was a bit disappointing but on the whole the food was good and plentiful. Delicious ice-cream!

Special mention has to go to the Animation Team, they were all splendid and really made the holiday. If you wanted to join in anything, and lots of people did, you were made welcome and really part of things. Aerobics and dance lessons in the sun on deck were great. If you wanted quiet sophistication there were plenty of lovely venues for you too. Crossing the Equator has to have a mention as this was a great event finishing with everyone who wanted dancing on deck in the sunshine. If you wanted fun you got it!

The ports of call after Casablanca were very disappointing if you did not want to use the organised tours. Read more