Unique, beautiful itinerary and fabulous entertainment and service staff mostly wonderful (but inconsistent Pursers Desk courtesy) but some cautions for those with special needs, diets and health concerns.

Most staff are incredibly good, polite and service excellent. The scenery was beautiful and unique. Entertainment was top notch. Cabin Steward did a great job. Mostly quite nice but older boat; almost 1/4 of a century old, so some parts not overly well maintained. Floors often uneven so watch your step. Also toilets don’t have enough water and we have to use and carry around a cup to fill them. EW!!! And elevators have closed on us a few times. Guest laundry not always working. And the heating/air conditioning system does not work properly. Cautions: the management is often inept at fixing or responding to problems. It is freezing on the boat in public areas especially dining room and show lounge; bring a very warm jacket; we had to go find a store and buy heavy flannel shirts. VERY limited outside areas to sit unless you have a private balcony, especially if you have mobility issues. Very careful if you have any dietary concerns; I am gluten free, and the menus are wrong about what contains and I was served gluten and got sick. Even head waiters don’t understand what has gluetin in it. Items on menus are often not available, crew does not know where to find things. If you have mobility issues, please know that we were told that boat accessible, but top two outside decks are not. Also, if cigarette smoke is a concern, be warned that the entire top-deck...”sun deck”, is available to smoke on, instead of the usual: just on the port or starboard side. Communication to guests and among departments is not the best. Wheelchairs and scooters are parked outside dining room in front of emergency fire equipment door!!!!Big safety issue to me. And, if you book another cruise while onboard (and you may, as overall, it really was wonderful), be sure to get the quote in writing, as what we were told and what was later sent to us at home, was different than what we were told onboard. But these issues, while troublesome, did not ruin a really wonderful time.