Our British Isles cruise on Emerald Princess that started 26 June did not begin well. We had done all necessary actions to ensure a promised swift passage through the Embarkation Hall. However so had the vast majority of those boarding and then the tightly packed long queue was told there was a software problem.

The dining room waiters and our cabin steward were excellent. Sadly the fare in the dining room was not that good. The number of choices on the menu had been cut drastically and varied in quantity and quality. One night my two slices of meat almost covered the plate yet, on a formal night, a duck wing and small square of meat passed as Duck a l’Orange.

A lot was made of Medallion both before and on the cruise. It is probably great if you like technical things, do not like much person-to-person contact, want drinks but do not want to leave your seat or are happy for Princess to track all your movements on board. Personally I, and there seemed plenty of others (it was often a topic of conversation), prefer the old days of the plastic card for access and payment. Read more