We were on the transatlantic cruise from Southampton. This was our first time cruising with RCI, the first time on a ship with over 3000 passengers and our first transatlantic crossing. We had a great time and enjoyed everything about the cruise. Before we left home I stopped reading other peoples’ reviews; they were so negative and disappointing I did not want my holiday ruined before we’d even started. At least we found a lot of AOS fans on the Cruise Critic roll call. Please do not believe all the negative reviews but by the same token you should travel on AOS with reasonable expectations. I think you should research your ships and cruise lines more thoroughly. If most of the complaints are about food, service & entertainment then you should pay more money and go on 6 star cruise lines. Don’t go on a ship that is offering an excellent value for money product, pay a low price then complain about everything. There is a saying “Champagne taste, Beer budget”.

The food on the ship was good whether in the MDR or Windjammer (anybody that gives me apple crumble and custard gets my vote!!). There were plenty of Indian dishes in both MDR and the buffet. English sausages and bacon for breakfast (bear in mind that we’d sailed from England), a fresh stir-fry station in the Windjammer, the list goes on. Another highlight of our trip was our table of 10. If any of our dining companions are reading this review; thank you so much for making meal times interesting and fun. Gary & Karen wish you all the best and good luck for the future.

There was plenty of choice of activities to do every day. You can take part or just relax in a quiet corner (which was possible on a ship of AOS size and 3000 passengers). Even the 6 consecutive days at sea went quickly and some days we could not do all of the activities we wanted to do because they overlapped. I enjoyed some of the port lectures. Read more