It was OK

This was my fourth cruise with RC so I was ready for the constant sales pitch, although it seems to get slightly worse each time or perhaps I just forget. Photographers every night at the table-did that always happen? You couldn’t buy a photo frame (I was looking for one to make up my set of the navigator class of ships). Instead you had to buy a photo album. Is that perhaps because a frame holds one picture at $20 whereas an album could hold an incredible 35 ($700 of “memories”-you are kidding!)

Like one of the other reviewers we had also purchased the select package which is no longer available. You could upgrade but does anyone else feel that once again, RC are trying to appeal to the worst market. Naturally most people will try to get value for money and if you have spent £350 on drinks (cleverly marketed as £50 a day-doesn’t seem as bad), then you are going to drink as much alcohol as you possibly can. At least this time we didn’t have the shouting and swearing from drunk passengers at 4PM on departure day (yes really).

The negative about this cruise as far as I was concerned in RC’s attempt to do movies under the stars. Get one of your staff to go on a princess cruise to see how it works. On days where it is raining or rough seas they put it on in the theatre, not outside. Just how warm do you think it is at midnight outside in the Atlantic ocean in October? Also, from memory one of the films was a kids film-only on at 10.45 (might have been 10.30) at night. Get a grip RC.

Ports I liked: Vigo-walk straight into town, Gijon-bit off putting to dock in the middle of nowhere in the middle of what could only be described as a petro chemical plant (just like landing in Grangemouth in Scotland for those familiar!). Bilbao-fantastic city. Guggenheim was awe inspiring and that is from people who find art lovers pretentious snobs. Le Havre-surprisingly big but Paris-don’t be ridiculous, a 6 hour round trip on a bus costing 120euros each. I could take my family of four for a weekend there and fly direct from home town for that kind of money.

By no means a bad holiday and perhaps just what I needed after my heart attack early this summer. However, won’t do it again.