We embarked on a wet day in Melbourne to head for the sunny South Pacific. The embarkation process was very quick. We had preferred boarding passes and were on the ship within 20 minutes of arrival at the port.

We had what I thought was only light rain the first few days of the trip and that resulted in our cabin being flooded. The carpets had to be lifted and dried out. This event was unfortunate and is probably an indication of the need for better maintenance of the ship. We were one of several cabins to be flooded. There were signs of rust on the external fittings, wood railings had flaking varnish, and there were some minor water leaks about the ship. These are minor things, but in my experience as a maintenance engineer if the little things are not being done it does not bode well for the behind the scenes maintenance activities.

The ship is going into dry dock in April next year, prior to going to the American market, and we hope that will address some of the aging issues. Read more