Cabin Review

Hi everyone I would just like to give everyone a heads up on the drinks package and also the excursions. We sailed on the 3rd of July on the Italian Flavors cruise there were alot of flaws, alot of this blame goes to our travel agent.

First of all we were told we would get a room with a window with no obstructed view we also requested a double bed none of this met as there was a big orange life boat on the window with only a small view of the sea (I have included a photo) and also the room was tiny with 2 single beds so already off to a bad start. We sat for a few minutes then went off to find a bar as we were dieing for a Jack Daniels, we went to the top deck to get a drink poolside, we looked at the bar menu and couldn't believe our eyes (I have included photos of the full Bar Menu which is the same in every lounge/bar) We paid £200 each for the drinks package and were told that EVERYTHING was included Water, Cans of cola, All branded spirits So we were very dissapointed when we learned you had to pay for a bottle of water, Cans of juice even cranberry juice and all cocktails including cranberry juice and what hurt most of all the Jack Daniels! As the holiday went on though we had tried almost every drink on the package and some that weren't as you can get them at a discounted price. The drinks are nice some of my favourites are the Mojito, Mambo, Cafe Frappe and Tequila Bum Bum which is a shot. You also get a Cocktail of the day which is free if your on the drinks package and it usually included one which you would normally need to pay extra for so thats good. We added up all out receipts when we were home and were glad to find we would have spent £540 if we didn't have the drinks package. Overall it is worth it but just a bit of a shock to learn alot of it was extra! Now to the excursions, We asked our travel agent if we would need to pay for them she said 'Just some of them, Yes' but before we went we did do some research and picked which ones we would be doing it cost us £525 in total for 2 people to do - Blue Grotto in Malta, Erice in Trapani, Rome, Pompeii and Godfather tour in Messina which were all brilliant and I would recommend them but also be warned there is ALOT of walking and I mean for hours. The actual cruise ship is OK and worth it for £1500 for us both including drinks, its a little dated and when you get used to it it is quite small but there are lots of lounges and bars to choose from and the entertainment is ok. there are a few restaurants 2 of them are self service and the food is honestly not great we would sometimes wait to 11 oclock at night because that's when they do burgers and hotdogs. They sometimes have themed nights like Indian but the currys are rank and the lamb is like rubber. They were trying to pass of tatty scones as nan bread! and the black pudding is inedible. If you want to go and get some more posher food from the menu restaurants you do have to sit with strangers usually 6 to a table which I personally find awkward the food is decent though. Its mostly Philippines, Polish and Russians who work on the boat they are all really great though and couldn't do enough for you, You never need to go to the bar they just serve you all night at your table and your never sitting without a drink.

A couple of other things -

* I recommend taking your card as everything is charged to your onboard account they don't deal with cash. You need to put a £400 deposit down for things like excursions, Room service, Drinks ect.

* The pools are tiny you could probably fit about 12 people in them

* Everytime you go to use toilet there will probably be someone in cleaning it I don't know why but they clean the toilet every 10 minutes and usually lock the door while there doing it

* If its your first time on a cruise like myself don't underestimate sea sickness and get some tablets straight away I could feel the boat moving about 70% of the time

* If your going on Italian Flavours Sicily is much nicer than Italy and so are the people. watch your time on the tours if your having something to eat because the waiters can be very slow. The shopping is also garbage.

* On the drinks menu the drinks marked with * are the ones you pay extra for and the price next to that is the price you pay if you don't have the package.

Thanks for reading my review I have tried to be as honest as possible and include as much as I can think of.