Our daughter was taking a holiday with our grandson, who my wife normally looks after in school term. This opened a 'window of opportunity' for my wife and I to take a break, so we looked for a relatively inexpensive cruise that ran at the same time as our daughter's holiday. Cruising from Southampton wouldn't be our preferred choice but we thought we'd try it anyway. Being RC, the ship would have a flowrider, climbing wall, ice skating, etc., which I like. We suspected the ship would have a few children on board as it was a school holiday, and were proved right. Lifts were packed, sunbeds filled quickly, seats in the Windjammer filled quickly, long queues for the flowrider, screaming babies in push chairs the pub, kids playing in the lifts pressing all the buttons and playing on staircases. Didn't bother with ice skating knowing the rink would be jam packed with toddlers. Adults who wanted peace and quiet fled to the 'Solarium' area which then became packed; all the sunbeds snatched up. My advice to those 'grown ups' who want a quiet cruise in school holidays is to avoid cruises like this. The most peaceful areas on the ship were the jogging track at 6.00 a.m. and the gym, which very few people visited. I wonder why. The entertainment manager was hell bent on getting friendly with the children to make sure they pester their parents to cruise again. Personally we can't understand why parents would take children on a cruise. Our kids preferred the outdoors, beaches, lakes and camping, and seeing new places. Maybe the food and beverage packages are the main attraction.
Clean, nicely laid out. Spacial, Enough storage space. Balcony. We think we prefer ocean view cabins on lower decks, close to the waves.
We sailed from Southampton.
We bought tickets for the 'hop on, hop off' tour buses at 20 Euros each. Good value, long trip but we didn't get off anywhere as we couldn't follow the free map we were given!
A big city with long hot streets full of shops like any other city. Some nice green areas around the harbour to walk around and relax in. Found Joules Vernes statue.