TUI were recommended by a cruise mad friend as a great introduction to this type of holiday. We chose this cruise and ship as it covered an awful lot of places of interest. On the day of arrival we were stunned at seeing the shop and is sheer size. Now of course we are first timers with experience limited to cross channel ferries. And even more stunning to us was this is a sort of mid sized ship! Embarkation was smooth and we were greeted by extremely friendly staff from the terminal through to walking on board.

The ship is beautiful and despite initial 'newbie' confusion everything is well sign posted and there are lots of maps to help you find your way about. We boarded about 15:00 and after unpacking in the lovely, clean cabin we used the next two hours or so to explore every part of the shop and get our bearings. Be warned that for some areas such as Latitude and Vista restaurants might mean taking a detour up or down a deck as deck 5 seems to end suddenly despite signs pointing you beyond a point you're told you can't pass! Anyway that bit of obvious advice aside the cabin was lovely. We booked a balcony cabin and we're on deck 8 starboard. It was clean, well equipped and very well laid out. It includes an electronic valuable safe much the same as hotels provide. The shower is brilliant, like standing in front of a fire hose! Our cabin was cleaned around three times a day and the staff are very friendly and only to happy to help with any requirements.

That last sentence applies to ALL the TUI staff who are always helpful, smiling and friendly. That goes a long way to making the whole experience very personable and personal. Read more