This was my first cruise and with joyful anticipation I stepped on board the ship MV Discovery at Harwich. My other half, a bridge player, was there not just for the The Fjords and Fairytale Cruise, but for bridge. A courtesy coach collected us from the airport and after several telephone calls our luggage labels did arrive.
Embarkation was smooth. We were photographed on coming on board and a card given to each of us which was scanned by a crew member via the computer every time we left/returned. The card also had to be presented to an official on entry to the quay. Luggage was in our cabin shortly after we checked in but apparently one lady's was put on the wrong ship and we only found this out later in the cruise. No cash money was used for any purchase on board. A credit card was passed over at reception and anything bought from drinks, and trinkets to Internet use was signed for and put on your bill.
The crew were always cheerful and helpful and hygiene was excellent. Guest lecturers were good and to be able to listen to lectures through the TV in our cabin was very useful. We had chosen an outside cabin on the Promenade deck and I was extremely thankful to have done so as anything less would have been claustrophobic. We had booked for 7 out of a possible 18 days to leave the ship at Copenhagen. There was an abundance of food but speaking personally I didn't think the quality was that good and there did seem to be a lot of repetition even on the Yacht Club menu. As for "snacks" at 4pm vegetarian sandwiches seemed to consist mostly of somewhat dry bread with lettuce and mayonnaise, though to be fair there was tuna available and brown bread, puds, and scones with jam and cream for those who could eat them. The menu for the Italian Night at the Yacht Club was not inspiring and was repeated later in the week. There were I think 4 or 5 courses, each was really a taster but no plain fish on it. As a booking for 6 of us had been made a few days in advance I asked if it would be possible to have plain grilled fish as I did not eat red meat or chicken. Although they looked surprised they came up trumps and provided some salmon.