This was our first cruise and we were so looking forward to it. The food was great as were the excursions, but regrettably that was the only positive points I can make as our cruise was ruined by the points below and the lack of understanding and response by Cruise & Maritime. No compensation - just money off another cruise with them!!!!!!

For the first 36 hours after boarding the ship we were unable to use the toilet in our suite as it was blocked as indeed was the rest of our deck. Once the initial blockage had been cleared, several hours later the toilet bowl filled with waste and upon seeing this we contacted reception and a plumber was sent up. The plumber then accused us of putting inappropriate products down the toilet which we had not done and we were offended by his attitude. We contacted an officer nearby who apologised to us, however, the remainder of the cruise was spoilt by the constant aroma of sewage in the bathroom.

On the first day at sea, we had 2 crew personnel in overalls scraping and painting directly adjacent to our balcony which was both noisy and intrusive. On a later date, we were subject to one of the crew scraping paint on the canopy above us with debris being blown onto our balcony and into the suite rendering the balcony unusable for that period. Finally, when we had docked in Newcastle and it being our last day on board, we ordered breakfast as usual with the intention of eating it outside in the sunshine. After pulling back the curtains before 9 am, we were greeted by 2 crew members and a large hosepipe. The crew had removed the dividers between he balconies and were proceeding to wash the balcony deck and rails. Again preventing us from using this space. Read more