I must admit I was very sceptical about this ship after reading some of the reviews. I expected to feel crowded, long queues and little service from the staff, how wrong I was.

My husband and I are both in our early 60's and have cruised a few times but this was our first time on such a large ship. Arriving at Circular Quay in Sydney we found that boarding was well organised if a little slow but moving 3,000 plus people must be a real headache, it flowed without any real issue and when the staff noticed that my husband was using a walking stick they put us into a smaller queue to go through customs and we boarded quickly.

We headed straight to Windjammer for lunch, had no issue finding a seat and the food was plentiful and fresh. Allowed to access our cabin at 1.30 we found it to be tastefully decorated with a bathroom/shower plenty big enough for both of us. We had booked one of the new cabins on Deck 12 at the front of the ship Cabin 1836 and it was wonderful for us, but if you suffer from the feel of ship movement then these cabins might be an issue. Read more