Here's a health warning - apart from being first timers, and thus having no basis of comparison, we are also British, and were coming onto the cruise off the back of a stupendous week in the Canadian Rockies, four days of which were Gold Leaf on the Rocky Mountaineer, so we were tuned in to high standards!

So, embarkation. Why does the green card say 'Welcome to the USA' and then set about being as unwelcoming as possible? Also it seems a strange policy for a great nation of overwhelmingly delightful people to concentrate every single sourpuss in some kind of minor public office. Ah well, we're not so great ourselves.

Bearing that in mind, embarkation was fair, with a transit time of 60 to 90 mins. On board was a welcoming glass, but nowhere much to drink it, an immaculate cabin with balcony on the starboard side of Deck 9, and chaos in the Garden Cafe. That was probably because the ship was full (2200 plus) and we were all finding our way. Things rapidly improved! Read more