The upside? Check in was like clockwork, our cabin (inside) was spacious and well equipped and staff were plentiful, friendly and well trained.

The downside? Most everything else! The entertainment was generally poor and the programme seemed only geared to enriching the cruise line (learn about wrinkles and then buy treatments) and so pensioner based. Then silly stuff like the bar most people walked through for dinner at 6.30pm didnt open until 7pm so you couldn't get a pre-dinner drink. And in the bar that was open you got some vegetable crisps if you were lucky, but only after 6pm on the dot!

The restaurant food was ok, but lacking in imagination and variety. The buffet selection was the worst of any cruise line we've been on. And the photographers? Late setting up for every formal night ... No energy or enthusiasm, very lack lustre. All in all we were underwhelmed.