We had visited South Africa, Sri Lanka and stopped for three days in Bangkok in September, October and November 2018 with a view to visiting more of Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. We returned home in UK for a family wedding and Christmas and we spotted this cruise offer in local travel agent window during December.
Having not done a cruise previously, we decided to give it a try based on friends and family feedback from other cruises.
This is totally our personal view of the experience, which will certainly be different for everyone.
I will bullet point only as not wanting to write a book.
POSITIVES -
Cruise was very well organised and ship was very clean with excellent staff.
Comfortable cabin and bed.
Flexible eating options.
‘Some’ good entertainment.
Different place to visit most mornings.
Plenty bars around the ship.
Able to find quiet spots even on days at sea.
NEGATIVES -
One week would have been long enough on a ship for us.
Adult only cruise catered more for older generation (55+) with most entertainment.
All English on cruise.
The towels on sun beds situation.
Very limited times on shore.
Food became a little bland after a while.
All inclusive did not include bottled drinking water.
All inclusive did not include WiFi.
We feel that as drinking water and WiFi are pretty important things to most, they should be included.
A glass of coke was chargeable at bars before 10am.
Could not get foreign currency onboard using a bank card at reception and no ATM.
Excursions not always value for money or too long.
Some ports too far from places of interest.
Some entertainment a little poor.
Ended up coming home with a severe bout of diarrhoea even though we only ate onboard and always followed the hygiene facilities (unlike a lot of others using the toilets)
A different experience for both my wife and me but no more cruising for us.
Inside cabin was fine, with a comfy bed and good shower.
Staff in twice a day to tidy the cabin, which was very nice.
Air con good.