Many friends and some family members recommended this cruise, and so we invested not far short of £4,000 and booked through an online travel agent. Emerald made all the travel decisions and booked flights to Marseille via Paris.

A 70 minute delay in leaving Manchester caused us to miss the connecting flight and so we arrived at Marseille 15 hours and 10 minutes late. Joining the boat at 04.00 meant we missed the welcome, the briefing and dinner. The first day in Arles was spoiled because we were too tired to join the accompanied tour and had to spend the time shopping for essentials as our luggage was lost for the first 2 days.

The boat was fine and the balcony stateroom was as described. The food was, at times, dreadful. With a gastric upset, my wife ordered from the "every day" menu which offered salmon, chicken or steak. It came with grossly overcooked but lukewarm cauliflower and broccoli. On the day I ordered steak medium rare, it arrived well-done and dry with chips and the same washed-out vegetables as always. Read more