I was expecting the worst after reading all the reviews but we had a fantastic cruise. The girls are 17 and 10 and they too had a fabulous time. We didnt get into the onboard activities much - we are fairly quiet and we dont drink very much or dance and gamble at all - we took plenty of books to read and we were always able to find a quiet spot either on our balcony or in one of the many lounges around. WE went to the theatre and the shows were stunning.

WE had no problems with the food. A massive buffet for breakfast and lunch with plenty of hot and cold choices, alternatively you could use the dining room and choose off a limited menu. We used the buffet which was very busy, at the start of the dining session it was crowded but as time went on (half hour in or so) the waiters opened up the back section and we aimed for that - much more relaxed and quieter. Dinner was great - fantastic service, the 10 year old ordered for herself and sometimes chose 3 main courses one from the kids menu and two from the adults menu and her choices were served exactly as she ordered - even if she ordered "fries" that were not on the menu. I was very impressed with the food choices - we only ate 3 or 4 of the seven courses offered and there was plently of choice for each course.

Some Italians are a little hard to take but certainly not all. The queue jumping and pushing in happened a lot but after my 10 year old was standing in a queue with her empty plate for over half an hour and not progressing forward we decided on the "if you cant beat them join them approach". I must say I was slightly peeved by the end of the week. They also smoke a lot but the ship had lots of no smoking areas and we didnt go to the bars and casino where you are allowed to smoke. Read more