After 6 consecutive cruises onboard the great Ocean Village and Ocean Village 2 I decided to try some alternative cruise lines to see if any would be my new choice. NCL next May was my first choice however this winter cruise popped up and I decided to give it a try.

Booking/pre-cruise. The first thing I noted as a single cruiser is the 100% single supplement but fortunately the per person price was so cheap paying for 2 in a Promenade view stateroom was cheaper than a 1 week fly-cruise I had done earlier in the year.

The 2nd difference is that excursions have to be paid upfront, before I have been able to reserve and then chop and change up to departure day when they get charged to my onboard account. Read more