We arrived at birmingham airport to be told there was a problem with the plane and we would be delayed by 24 hours. We were left at the airport for most of the day with no updates until eventually being transferred to the airport hotel for the night, where we were given a revised itinerary. The following morning we were taken back to the airport to face a further delay because they hadn't put enough fuel in the plane to get us to our destination. We were taken to Curacao where we were again put into a hotel to await the arrival of the ship which had sailed from Barbados the previous day. 53 hours late we finally joined the cruise.
The ship was a huge disappointment. The smell of wet carpets and sewage was very strong in most of the public areas. Our cabin was a little on the compact side,but comfortable and clean enough. We only tried the restaurant once - never again. The food was cold,almost inedible and took so long to arrive we gave up. The rest of the shortened trip we ate in the Lido - the food was OK but I had gone on a cruise - I expected to be served my meals not to have to serve myself.
The days spent at sea were a nightmare. The ships maintenance crew found it necessary to carry out painting jobs during this time so all we could smell was paint fumes - still it did mask the wet carpet & sewage smells inside the ship. The old practice of sunbed hogging was in evidence, despite claims from the staff that it was not tolerated - oh yes it was big style! The entertainment was mediocre and tired.