To be honest we decided on a cruise as my husband doesn’t like flying and the only way to get to all the islands was via a ship! It was our first cruise so we didn't know what to expect and we had no expectations.

Your luggage are taken from you and x-rayed for bottles of alcohol - nothing gets passed theses guys apparently! you are given a credit card type card which acts as your account whilst onboard and also your ID for getting on and off the ship - Keep it with you at all times. We weren’t greeted very nicely by the female photographer at the gangplank as we boarded the ship as we didn't stop to let her take our photo and the response was “It’s ok, I don't want you to break my camera” - to which we ignored but the lady in front of us was not at all happy and said how rude she was, which it was really!

On first impressions the ship was very clean and welcoming, I read somewhere that the ship had not long been refurbished so imagined it would look new and I wasn’t disappointed. We were one of the lucky ones and had the All-Incluvise Unlimited Beverages Package (this included alcohol) although as this was a new thing some of the bar staff were not aware but that so got sorted. The staff were friendly and helpful, our cabin was on Deck 10 (10589) mid-ship inside, we were looked after by Vincent, he was great, I had a smile every time I returned to my cabin as he did the towel animals and he helped me with a rather annoying ironing board that wouldn’t go down lol. The cabin we had the lifts on one side and the cupboard where Vincent kept his trolley but we didn't have any issues with noise, only the creaking of the ship. Read more