Background Information: We are a couple in our late 20's who have cruised often but this was our first sailing as adults with Royal Caribbean. We traveled with a couple in their early 50's & a 16 year old. This cruise unfortunately departed at the time where the UK and Europe was expecting the worst storm for 25 years.

Hotel & Embarkation: We stayed the night before embarkation at the Premier Inn West Quay Southampton. The hotel was the usual good standard of a Premier Inn and was only a very short drive to the ship (approx 10min walk). Embarkation on the Sunday was well organised and extremely quick. From getting in the line for security to getting on the ship was only 10 minutes. As always the buffet restaurant was extremely busy but the food was good.

Itinerary: We were meant to visit Cherbourg, Vigo, Gijon, Bilbao & Le Havre. Due to the storm approaching the UK we had a number of changes throughout the journey sometimes at 24 hours notice. The Captain and his staff kept everyone informed on a regular basis and handled the situation very well. The number of people complaining about this situation was ridiculous, it seemed that people didn't understand that all changes were made because of the safety of passengers. Read more