We chose this holiday because the cruise around the United Arab Emirates was a part of the world we had not visited before. I thought the process of getting on board and to our cabin was very good. The ship décor is based on 18th Century Italian architecture, a little over the top but looks great. I thought the ship was well designed and has a very good gym and spa.. There are a good range of bars that have a range of evening music. Unfortunately the waiter service in bars is very poor. There was often only one waiter visible so placing an order can be very time consuming, so you may have to elbow dance at the bar. The standard of food was quite variable from poor to average, nothing that I would recommend as quite a few dishes were bland.

everything is printed in eight languages as often are announcements. It is difficult to understand some of the announcements as it is not a clear delivery. Most announcements are about trying to sell you something. There are too many staff trying to sell you stuff rather than serve you.

Having been on two previous cruises with Thomson, I was disappointed by much of the entertainment. The best in my view was an evening with Hugo Palliotti, an excellent tenor. The rest was a mishmash of Eurovision type dancing. We booked Bigbus trips around Dubai and Muscat in Oman, which were very good and the jeep safari to Sir Bani Yas Island was brilliant. getting so close to wild animals in such a beautiful setting.