We have cruised before on Royal Caribbean” independence of the seas” , Princess cruises “Grand princess “ and P&O “ Ventura and Azura “ , so this is a comparison with other cruise lines.. to give you an idea... We decided to go on this cruise as the price was good and,we didn’t have to fly. Southampton to Norwegian Fjords and Shetland Islands for 9 days . Check in at Southampton was ok not the quickest but didn’t mind waiting as we were so excited for the cruise. When we got to the room our bags weren’t delivered and we waited for 4 hours which was the longest time we had to wait ever .On previous cruises our bags will be already in front of the cabin ... we were dissapointed as we wanted to get our stuff and we feel we wasted time hanging around . We had a inside cabin which was nice but small ,you can see the photos to give you an idea of space , we were impressed with the toilet and shower that was a nice size ,more like a double shower that always had hot water .Toiletries provided were of low standards and only used once .. also I have never seen such thin toilet paper ever ... next time I’ll take my paper from home hahahahaha. The inside room don’t offer a kettle or mugs to have hot drinks ,I asked for one and was told “ sorry no “ with all other cruise lines we always had the facilities biscuits and sweets replenished daily. We had breakfast in the buffet and the food was very nice but you could never find a free table ,almost every day had to share a table with other people which we didn’t like ... the outside area it was very nice if you were lucky to find a table .

We used the posh didning room that were free and we enjoyed the atmosphere was relaxed and not a strict dress code ,but we felt that the waiters were always so busy and we had to wait a long time to be served. Most of the time the foood will be nice and hot but other times was not presented nice and almost cold... The entertainment on this ship it was the most disappointing , it felt so amateur , the singing production felt like it was for kids and so loud .... The last show production “ Elements” was the only one we enjoyed ,The magician was the worst we had seen ,really ? ?? The flamenco guy was ok but after 2 songs we were bored . There was a band 24 karat which we listened to in the Bliss bar and they were really good.. We enjoyed the atmosphere around the ship so many nationalities like we never seen on other cruises before ... and the fact that the majority were adults and not many children. On one day I decided to have a hair cut and made an appointment ,I was told it will be $56 to cut wash and dry . The hairdresser man did Not listen to anything I said ,I showed him pictures what I want and he was ignoring me,pulling my hair very rough I felt like he was not competent and in the end my hair was very short and the bill was $94 which shocked me ... the worse experience on the ship. The ports we visited were beautiful such nice scenery like we never seen before ,we enjoyed it all. the organisation to get to the port was very poor and on 3 ocassions we had to use the tenders... no explanation was given ... I would highly recommend this itinerary!!!! Lots to be improved on this ship , overall nice atmosphere very relaxed but we still prefer Princess cruises as it offers a lot more . Princess cruises our number 1 , P&O the worst we have been on ,and NCL and royal carribean somewhere in the middle .