We embarked in Vancouver in a timely fashion. No problems, no surprises other than our bags had already arrived at our cabin and we were only slightly delayed in the boarding process. Very pleasant. After everything we had been told on this site, we expected, as 1 star Mariners we would be able to eat in the main dining room for lunch, but alas, we were turned away and ate our first meal in the Lido, first of many I might add.

I was awakened by my wife at 5am the first morning in a panic because the water to the head (toilet) would not stop flowing. After trying unsuccessfully to call the front desk, I ran up the stairs and after hitting the bell, finally got someone's attention to try and stem the tide. Getting back to the room, and waiting far too long, I finally tracked down a steward that was able to turn the water off. A couple of hours later, a crew member had the broken shutoff valve replaced. Rest assured, it was not anything foreign and forbidden that was flushed to cause the drama. The stewards worked hard the next couple of days to dry the cabin out from our adventure. And did an admirable job.

That was the only true problem with the trip, but I will say to be sure you like sea days very much before choosing an itinerary that has 5 sea days at each end of the trip. On such a small ship, with very little entertainment, other than a very active team trivia each day, it became very monotonous. Needless to say, I took the opportunity to catch up on visiting with my wife, and a great deal of reading. In our 50's, we were very much on the young side of the demographics of this ship. We heard from a few different people the average age on board was in excess of 80 years. I can not prove that number, but also from the number of walkers, canes, wheelchairs and scooters, I totally believe it. Read more