This ship was the carrier for the sea leg of a Canada/Alaska land/sea/land Scenic Tours package. By even the most generous evaluation the ship fell far short of expectations. There was often a strong odour of sewerage on deck and some internal areas of the vessel, wet carpet in the passageways, water leaking from light fittings in the dining room and other public spaces on the ship. Despite having fine weather for the voyage several stateroom passageways were lined with plastic buckets to catch leaks and portable fans directed on wet carpet. Three of a bank of six elevators in the aft of the ship were non-operational for several days prior to disembarkation and mobility challenged guests had to walk up seven or more flights of stairs to attend Scenic Tour disembarkation sessions. At cruise commencement a fellow guest had to have stateroom furnishings replaced due to offensive odours. Other guests in our tour group reported rooms had not been properly cleaned prior to embarkation.

Many of the staff seemed disinterested in their employment or indifferent to guest requests. Food was unimaginative, bland and fresh fruits were unappealing in presentation, over-ripe (watermelon) or grass-green (plums). Customer service personnel were inadequately trained for the role and in some instances abrupt.

Notably, a server at the pizza kiosk put his finger in the sauce and then his mouth while my wife and I were deciding our selection. Subsequently, the Executive Chef sent chocolate coated strawberries to our stateroom by way of apology. There was no proactive supervision of guests entering the buffet to ensure hand washing and washing facilities were inadequate for the number of guests passing through this dining option. Read more