This was my first time cruising and I took my two daughters aged 15 and 11. We were not sure what to expect, but were hoping for a holiday to meet everyones requirements. The girls wanted action and an opportunity to meet new friends and I wanted a relaxing break from work!

We departed from London Heathrow on a 6am flight with Alitalia and arrived shortly after 9 in Rome. HAL reps were at the airport to greet us and got us onto transfer buses. All fine so far. The transfer took a little over an hour and we were dock side just before noon. There is a large 'hanger' which serves as the embarkation port - you check in and have your photo taken and ID card is issued. We were on board in less than 20 minutes - a breeze given that we had entered all the pre embarkation info online. I was slightly disappointed that there was no welcome drink as we went aboard, but we went straight to our cabin which was ready. Our room steward came and introduced himself and suggested we went to the Lido for lunch.

So a quick elevator ride to deck 9 for a 'light' lunch. We decided to have some lunch at this point. The lido was very busy, but it was kept clean and we found a table easily. the food was great and a very wide variety. We went out onto the Aft deck for a look around and then decided to sign the girls up for the 'kids' clubs. After all this and going down to decks 2 and 3 to look about it was time for the sail away party. I thought this would be a bit of a bigger event than it was and it ended up being a bit of a damp squib. Read more