I chose this cruise to mark my retirement. We had looked at a number of other cruises but saw this as a late booking and liked the look of the itinerary. We booked a Junior Suite (8060) on the port side so we would have the sun on our balcony during the 6 day Atlantic crossing. This proved to be very worthwhile as the usual sunbed reservation took place on the pool deck throughout the cruise. There were constant notices in the cruise news asking people not to do this but to no avail. It didn't bother us too much as I'm not fussed about getting a tan anyway but my wife enjoyed the sunbed provided on our balcony. The cabin was excellent with lots of storage a good sized bath room, with bath, and plenty of space. Our steward was excellent and very attentive.

Overall we enjoyed the ship and the facilities, we mostly dined in Gallery 47, the upper level restaurant which has an Italian menu, it rotates between two daily menus but also includes a selection from the main 47 restaurant. We found that we got a table quicker there. We really liked the open airy feel to the restaurant, not buried down in the depths as on some ships we've been on. The food quality was generally good and service fine. Most of the crew were very friendly and happy to chat, there are a lot of East Europeans among the waiters. Also worth a try is the Glass House restaurant which is where the indoor pool is housed. It offers a Tapas and Pizza menu plus a hot stone option for which there is a cover charge of £9.50 (I think). This area is probably our favourite daytime spot, it is adult only 2 - 5, (this was an adult only cruise anyway which was another reason we chose it) and is nice and quiet to chill out in. They serve light snacks and salads during the day. We ate in the Surf & Turf a'la carte one night, the cover charge is £24.95 which seems a lot but my wife and I both agreed that the steaks we had were probably the best ever.

The entertainment was generally fine comprising a range of music and dance shows in the Broadway lounge, we particularly enjoyed 'Starry Starry Night' 'Boogie Shoes' and 'Hot Summer Nights'. The final show 'Homeward Bound' based on Simon and Garfunkel songs was only marred by a jokey Elvis spot for Graceland. The alternative 'Venue' hosted a series of game shows and quizs which we didn't bother with, just not our thing. There were a number of bands performing around the ship plus some fly in performers, a couple of comics and singers. We particularly enjoyed 'Protege' 4 boys from St Lucia who were billed as the party band and Ben Moss. The crew put on a good Halloween party after we left Gibraltar with quite a few guests dressing up for the occasion too. Read more