Poor value left a sour taste

This was our fourth cruise with Thompson/Tui the previous 3 were great . It sort of went downhill on arrival , we boarded approx 2130-2200 ish told we had to attend safety meeting in the venue at 2230 grabbed a bit of leftovers from buffet " restaurant " and went to the venue only to be told meeting could,nt start until the last flight had got there which turned out to be 2330 we had to endure listening to the assistant cruise director making cringe worthy jokes , the bar was closed during this time so nothing to numb the pain.

The food was average at best , the Italian had 2 menus rotating which after 2 weeks cruising got boring and repetitive.

The main "restaurant" was nothing special the portions were small even for a la carte

Islands buffet breakfast was ok,lunch was like leftovers from previous meals lots of curries,pies and fishcakes

The best food we had was in the Glass house dined there 4 times 3 in times in our last week as we were fed up of the other restaurants.

The service in the restaurants was terrible ,long waiting times for meals, long waits for drinks also seems like the waiting staff forget about you when the order is taken , also there is the wait to get into the restaurants sometimes 30-40 minutes then when you do get in there be amazed there seem to be at least 6 or 7 tables empty , that just tells me either the kitchens can,t cope or the waiting staff are undermanned which on observation seemed to be the case.

The bars were the same long waits , 2 people trying to serve lots of people does,not work.

Some of the bar waiting staff were quite surly with a reluctance to take orders, again every area seems to be understaffed.

The entertainment apart from Andy Abraham's was poor,the quality of the shows was,nt all that either . The assistant cruise director who loved the sound of his own voice on the microphone was cheesy and irritating

The pool entertainment was pathetic a quiz and a game of what I can only describe as adult I-Spy.

The itinery was absolutely great

Summing it all up compared to 3 previous cruises with the same company this one seems not to have the quality, too much cost cutting regards staffing levels and service ,maybe designed to stop you eating and drinking what you like when you like , thus saving money