We are used to cruising on much bigger ships and therefor it was with some trepidation, after reading some adverse comments on various web sites, that we made the booking. This decision was made because of the ports the ship was due to visit. The cruise started badly as there was a problem with baggage handling at Heathrow which meant that our luggage failed to arrive for 24 hours. Great efforts were made by the cruise company to re-unite all the passengers with their bags.

The cabins on deck 3 were adequate although I can't understand why there are no tea and coffee making facilities in the cabins. This meant that I had to go to deck 7 every morning to get tea for my wife. The restaurants of which there are 2 were first class, and the food exceptional. The lounges were very comfortable. The service from the cabin stewards, the bar staff, the restaurant staff and especially the reception staff was excellent. They were all very friendly and very good at their jobs and because of them the cruise was a great success. I thought the excursions to be very expensive so we did our own thing all the time, and once again the reception staff were very helpful and knowledgeable and provided all the maps etc that one needed.

The embarkation and disembarkation process was efficient and stress free. The entertainment was just about ok, for me I would like to have had a bit more of it but I suppose it is not fair to compare it with the much bigger ships. I am 68 and my wife 71 but I did feel quite a bit younger than those around me, I think the average age could have been late 70's. However we had a great time, visited some lovely places, ate too much, and were looked after by a lovely crew. Special mention should be made of the Captain who was very approachable, very friendly and did all he could to make the cruise a success.