We, along with others, checked on the website, various places, all pages said the same, and on the telephone (often more than once for many guests) before booking and sailing, that masks would not be mandatory. We also asked 'under what circumstances might this change' on the telephone and we gave various examples, every time we were informed 'it will not change'. We are medical doctors and like our medical colleagues, we avoid mandatory mask environments, considering no good evidence supports masks, and these rules can hurt a lot of people.

Within less than 24h, nearly 24h, after leaving Miami, and 9 days before the next port, the captain informed everyone that masks had to be worn indoors, so this timing made no sense, and it made no sense that groups spent hours drinking 20 beers in the pool every day, right next to each other, then put on masks, as they left to go and eat. Everyone became more anxious and agitated with this rule. This means we mostly stayed in our room and worked.

The guests were very homogenous, seemed to us like mostly west coast USA. It felt a bit like a club travelling together, where crew and guests knew each other well, for years, it seemed. This can cause problems in terms of favourite tables etc. Crew nice, mostly South African, however, seemed like anyone under 65 or 75 were given the 'honeymoon' table (in the middle of the room, no view - so interesting pitch). We had to specifically arrive early and insist on a table with a view if all tables with views were free. Guests were very forward, demanding personal contact details of staff, and I had a gentleman refusing to take his hands off me at a music performance (he apologised the next day). Boundaries and good manners were not as common as on other ships like Norwegen or Costa (European) where people appear to respect that everyone is equal (no favourites) and in terms of personal physical boundaries. Read more