Where to start? First time on a cruise and so bitterly disappointed. Following a three hour embarkation delay to disinfect the ship, my husband and I walked up the gangplank into utter chaos;. No one to greet or welcome you, harried staff running about the ship, passengers luggage carelessly piled up in the lift foyers and dumped outside peoples cabin doors and a sizable queue of complainants at reception. As we were unsure of protocol, and there was no one to guide us, we headed up to our room. The room was not prepared - no soap, dirty shelving from the last occupants, very little toilet paper, balcony door jammed shut and windows indescribably dirty and our luggage no where to be seen. I flagged down a steward to address the issues and he suggested we look for our bags amongst the mountains of luggage piling up in the lift foyers on various levels(!!!). Our bags didn't show up for three hours and the balcony door took another request to be unjammed to gain access. Our room was not cleaned until the following day. As we settled in we noticed the ship had begun to move (no announcement was made that we heard) so we scurried up to one of the decks to enjoy the view as we left Sydney Harbour.

The food was ATROCIOUS!!! Our first meal was at Angelo's. My husband ordered spaghetti and meatballs and received something that resembled a cow pat sitting on a bed of poorly drained pasta swimming in water. It was stone cold and my meal was not much better. Pre frozen fish served cold. Yuck! We didn't receive one meal on board served at a food safe temperature. Everything was tepid at best, and frankly, no amount of heat would save the slop they were dishing up. I ordered a pannacotta that could have doubled as a superball and the creme brulee was so curdled it had the texture of scrambled eggs. When we got to Cairnes we bought a mountain of food and brought it back on board and filled our fridge.

The service was ATROCIOUS! - except for our room steward, Nellie, who was helpful and delightful. A request for a pot of tea or second cup of coffee was met with an exasperated sigh and some requests were never met at all. In the end we just stopped asking as it was all too much trouble. At The Waterfront Restaurant i ordered a pork chop that arrived with three shards of bone instead of a chop - cold and overcooked. At The Dragon Lady tables were left uncleared - we spent a lengthy 1.5 hours waiting for our food and surrounded by five uncleared tables. Read more