This was our first cruise. We picked it because so many people told us what a fantastic experience it would be . Everyone raves about the quality of food, the level of service etc that you receive and we thought it would be a great way to visit a lot of new destinations in one trip. We love the Caribbean and have spent many holidays on various islands and were looking forward to both re-visiting some of these as well as setting foot on some new ones. We certainly didn't get what we both paid for and expected. Yes, there were good points. Our cabin with balcony was fine and serviced very well. The drinks included in our AI package were of a good quality. The evening entertainment was superb. However, everything else was extremely poor. The food was for the most part pretty diabolical - the standard of poor school dinners. The only good meals that we ate were in the restaurants which carried a surcharge, one of which cost an additional £60 for the two of us!!! Service in the main dining room was by and large abysmal, often waiting 3/4 to 1hr to be served our main meals. It would appear that a lot of the staff were new and were being given on the job training, which maybe accounted for some of the bad service. However, we did not sign up to be part of a training programme ! Yes, there were a lot of apologies and offers of more drink, but really it got to the point when all you wanted was your dinner!! The buffet restaurant was a total let down. We only tried it for a main meal on our first night. It was completely chaotic. Food looked awful. All dishes looked completely unappetising - very poorly displayed. There were no wine glasses - indeed no white wine,and the list goes on ! We did try it one more time for breakfast during the cruise but it was just like a bunfight to try and get food and tables were left uncleared and dirty. We didn't go back there again! Most excursions that we went on were also disappointing- incredibly poor value for money! At the end of our holiday we were unlucky that our flight was delayed and we had to spend a night in a hotel on Barbados. Obviously, rooms had to be found for a whole planeload of people, but we were assured that they would all be of the same quality. Unfortunately, we were part of a group that were put in a hotel, probably not fit for purpose. Amongst, many awful things, there was not even enough drinking water for us all. We have obviously raised all these points and more with Tui, who have not even had the decency to reply. So, we are now taking our case to ABTA who we hope will be able to help us. Would we cruise again ??? Certainly not for a long time, and definitely not with Tui. In the past we have booked many holidays through Thompson holidays, and yes we did sometimes have problems . The difference is that they were always sorted out in a speedy and professional way. Shame on Tui for not doing the same !