Service and food-wise, this was well up to the standards we have come to expect on Silversea/ Seabourn / Windstar, although I still prefer the smaller ships and all-inclusive cruising. Having said that, we had so much shipboard credit (which could be used for excursions as well as for drinks etc) that I didn't feel so conscious of having to pay for everything on board. Soft drinks and water were free, unlike Cunard - in fact everything was so much better than our recent Cunard cruise I find it hard to fault. As another review has said, the cabin stewardess was superb, and we didn't experience any poor service.

We normally like to sit on a shared table. On some of the smaller ships it is free seating so you can move round and meet lots of lovely people. I was rather dreading the Crystal dining arrangement as it is fixed seating (they say they have invented a pre-booked free seating which means it isn't really free seating at all, and you only get your own company) but it actually worked fine. We did get nice table companions, and on a day when everyone other than us happened to have booked one of the other restaurants, the maitre d' put us on another shared table to we met some other folk too.

As a non-meat eater I found my choices limited some days, but overall found the food to be of a high standard.Two of the 'other' restaurants could be booked and were free - plus of course the Lido. But as the other reviewer has mentioned, closing the Lido at 1.30pm is rather earlyu if you've been off the ship in the morning - especially if like me you don't eat meat and therefore have no interest in the only alternative which is burger type food. Read more