We met on a ship, the Oronsay, on a voyage to England in 1956 - and have loved ships ever since. CruiseCritic over the past few years has added a new dimension - reading about each ship in the months before we sailed - what passengers enjoyed, what they criticised, what would it be like for us? Costa Allegra was great for us, in spite of what we had read, Dawn Princess to celebrate our Golden Wedding year was much as expected. Rhapsody had proved so popular with friends we knew it would be good - in spite of some criticism we'd read. Miami provided us with Crown and Anchor numbers, 19 years since we last sailed with them - in the Caribbean!

Waikiki is one of our favourite places and Courtyard Marriott Hotel was great value for money. We revisited all our favourite places four four days - and vowed to get back there again one day - as we always do.

Embarkation on Rhapsody was easy. We boarded about ll.30 am, had lunch in the Windjammer, and had access to our cabin at 1 p.m. Oeanview, and down on Deck 2, which we love - looking out AT the ocean - which proved very exciting in the weather approaching Sydney - we had the cleanest windows! Loads of room, plenty of wardrobe space, pristine-clean with comfortable beds. August our steward later starred in the towel animals exhibition in the Centrum. Read more