The good thing is the ship sailed from Liverpool, after that,there is nothing that was good. We expected to board the "BUDICCA" at 1:45pm we boarded at 8:00pm ad sailed the following morning, total delay of twelve hours, our second port of call was cancelled together with the booked tours, our alternative was Helsinki which cost us ten pounds by Olson to bus us into town! this was typical for each port we arrived at even though they cancelled the tours as "no time left to do them".very,very disappointing. The ship was small making for cramped conditions, not enough room for anything, the casino comprised of two tables in a corridor, the deck areas are small and not enough chairs to go around very few tables to eat off, bedrooms designed for one had a double bed installed, which has to be climbed over to get ito. tea and coffee was always cold, the tea wasn't even warm most of the time. Most of the guests on board were OAP, tea was available at specific times, this reminded me of watching the animals in the zoo at feeding time, a great rush for the trolley with zimmer frames walking sticks and gangos going berserk, and all for cold tea and sawdust cakes, a kettle was in the bedroom but there was never any teabags or milk. always asked for but never arrived. I thought the waiters were a little bit "in your face", especially with us older people, like being in a strict nursing home were the orders were orders. the entertainment was very restricted, the floor room was small and set at floor level so you could not see anything unless seated at the front. the buffet area was very small which caused a lot of pushing and shoving,the food was never hot apart from the soup.

We have always Cruised on Island Cruises and found the to be far better in every way, Fred should look at the alternative ways of Cruise facilities and amenities of other Companies. Was it worth it ?, If it sailed from Southampton then NO, But sailing from Liverpool - a little better.