While sat on the plane waiting for transport as neither of us could manage steps we found a few passengers not happy that neither Manchester or the cabin crew knew they needed assistance, after getting our cases we were met by rci staff and walked to our coach, the transfer was quick however on collecting our own cases from the couch we joined a quue where the cases were left to be deposited on the ship, there appeared to help for people with disabilities, and the porters we saw were sat around chatting n not making eye contact, despite us both walking with sticks, no help was given? We were led through to a large warehouse type building where we were given all the things to get on the ship, then we had to walk to the ship which was at least 5 mins away. Embarkation was painless and quick from then on.
Our room was very nice, however smaller than I expected width ways, we did not feel it was necessary for us to request a disabled room, as there are people with worse disabilities than ours, It was my first ship cruise, I have previously been on the Nile, it was lovely to have a balcony, the bathroom was adequate, however we had ordered bottled water & we found our fridge not working[ I now think the water was a waste, cos there is plenty of free iced water available on the ship], we went to explore, and were totally dumbstruck at how amazing the ship was.
We opted for 6 o'clock dining having not pre paid our tips, this I now know is to early, but for me 9was to late, next time I think I'll go for 9 but probably eat in windjammers more, the main dining room is amazing, and the chandelier reminded me of that only fools &horses sketch., the entertainment on board was fantastic & my friend won a fantastic inch by inch gold chain in a free raffle, after tickets were given out when leaving a show. All the shows & entertainment was fantastic, &Abel & his assistant Chris along with the rest of the team do an amazing job, nothing is done half heatedly & there is something for everyone, from cinema to bingo to quizzes to dance classes, along with the amazing nightly shows there's just not enough hours every night. We particularly liked the game show the quest & also mr & mrs.
The cabin felt smaller than it looked on the rci web page, it was lovely to have a balcony, the closet was more than adequate, it took 3days for us to get our fridge changed as it was broke, the bathroom was small but fine, &the beds very comfy, we were left a note saying our couch was getting replaced during the cruise due to general wear n tear upgrade, it looked fine to us though.I dropped a coffee on the carpet & up the Walls we cleaned it as best as we could, but next day the room attendant sorted it we never heard any outside noise and even slept with the balcony open every night