After reading some of the adverse remarks on Cruise Critic, we were a little apprehensive of what we may find on this ship, but I have to say we were pleasantly surprised. When weighing the pros and cons up with Celebrity and Royal Caribbean, P & O came out very well. Not perhaps as luxurious as Celebrity but just as good, if not better, than RCI. We found the Staff to be very pleasant and helpful, especially our Cabin Steward, Monoj, who always remembered our slices of lemon and ice for our G & T's!! If you treat people well, you will usually find the same treatment.

We chose Club dining and again the food was better than expected, not as good as it used to be but nowhere near as poor as we had been led to believe on earlier reviews, and we are 'foodies' and quite picky! We ate in Sindhu on 2 occasions and thoroughly enjoyed the food - it has certainly spoilt us for our local Indian! The Glass House is a favourite of ours and never disappoints! We did not eat in Epicurean this time, as we feel £40 per head is a little over the top - the standard of food should be this good throughout the ship. We ate breakfast in the Bay Tree and often went up to the Beach House for a late lunch around 2 -2.30 when it was quiet and much more pleasant than the usual bun fight! We didn't see anyone dressed 'scruffily' at dinner as had been mentioned before - in fact people were much more smartly dressed than on Celebrity or RCI, especially on formal nights - it wasn't unusual to see lovely long dresses and white tuxedos. The entertainment was very good, especially The Opera Boys and Sam Kane and the Headliners were first class.

A lot has been said about the loud music blaring out on deck, but this can easily be toned down, sitting on your own balcony or in the many quiet parts of the ship. The Metropolis was the best place for a drink before or after dinner, good atmosphere and music. A great shame that people don't actually get up and dance! Read more