Recently widowed, I travelled with some of my lovely family. I paid, without complaint, for the single occupancy of a double cabin but was annoyed that there was no reduction for the fact that I was only going to eat for one, use one person's towels, be less work for the steward. I booked in January and for the next six months was bombarded with unattainable cheap offers for the same cruise. A letter to the CEO is still unacknowledged. Despite this rudeness, I set out to have a happy and memorable vacation but, boy, did they disappoint.

I had specifically asked if French Champagne was available in the adult beverage package and was assured that it was. An outright lie. They serve French sparkling wine which is disgusting and gave me a headache. I ended up drinking wine which, whilst delicious, was not special. I paid $100 for drink service - but the service was non-existent. I had to queue at the bar and the staff were over-run, over-worked and, doubtless, underpaid. They rarely smiled.

Wherever you eat, you must book a table for dinner, otherwise you have to stand and wait. Again, the hostesses never smiled. The service is quite slow but, if you are not in a hurry, it doesn't matter too much. The food was nice but nothing special. Read more