My husband booked this cruise as a surprise based on the ports of call and the fact that this cruise line promoted itself as having ultra luxury ships. We expected Four Seasons/Oberoi hotel service, food, treatment - we were expecting ultra luxury.

We were disappointed even prior to boarding. Whilst our luggage had been taken very promptly by the porters, we were told that we could just roll our carry-on luggage on and off the tender. No-one told us we would need to stand in the cold wind waiting for the tender and then once off, climb a set of stairs and ramps prior to boarding the Silver Wind. All very awkward and difficult. We felt sorry for the female crew who were there trying to offer their assistance. Disembarkation had the same pitfalls but at least it was a little easier carrying hand luggage down rather than up stairs.

My husband had booked the Royal Suite (2 bedrooms) which was located at the front of the ship - this turned out to be directly above the anchor area which is an extremely noisy location when docking at or leaving ports. The beds in the suites, however, were extremely comfortable - the kind of bed you would like to take home. It was just unfortunate that there was very little space underneath to store suitcases. A major issue when in a normal suite. Read more