Joined this ship in Dubai near the end of January for a five night cruise to Muscat, Sir Bani Yas Island and Abu Dhabi. We had an inside cabin on Deck 1 which was right under the Piazza Casanova, so there was quiet a lot of bumping and music until 1am. This didn’t bother us too much as we like music and dancing so we rarely turn in before 12.30 anyway. After 1am it was really quiet until 8am so we were happy enough. We found all the staff friendly and helpful and enjoyed dancing in Piazza Casanova and also to the group in Isolodora and to Luciano (guitar/vocals). We also enjoyed some of the artists and the Italian version of ‘The Voice’, where the singers were understandably mainly Italian. Food selection in the restaurant for breakfast and lunch was not too good, so we got into the habit of taking breakfast and lunch in the Buffet and dining in the restaurant in the evening. Embarkation and disembarkation were smooth enough and we must credit the staff for the arrangements on the visit to Sir Bani Yas Island. They organised a super beach BBQ and put music and dancing on, and the tenders operated all the time during the day. We expected queues but there were none! On the downside we never expected to have to pay for water with our evening meal and we could only get teas and coffee in the buffet at certain times, unless we paid for it of course. You pay five euros for a pint and four euros for a half pint and they then add 15% to this cost. Invariably there was about an inch and a half of froth in the glass so we always asked for them to be topped up to the line!

Gratuiuties were added at 10 euros each per day. Overall though, we had a good time and thought the overall package including Emirates flights and the Dubai Hotel stay, was tremendous value.

One final point re. Transfers in Dubai. Be careful to ask the taxi driver what the cost is likely to be as one driver tried to rip us off, not knowing that we had previously made transfers in Dubai.