Embarkation was very efficient and, living in Southampton, we were out of our front door and into our cabin within an hour, plus our luggage was already there waiting for us! Disembarkation was similarly quick and efficient and it was easy to find our luggage in the collection point.

I had been anxious that our cabin might be too far forward in terms of feeling the motion of the ship but I need not have worried in that respect. We were in fact ideally placed just around the corner from the forward lifts and stairs, meaning we didn't have to keep walking the long corridors to get anywhere. Our cabin steward Ana was lovely and always had a smile and asked us about our day. We did notice a bad smell in certain areas of the ship, but we just held our noses while passing through.

We mainly dined in the Belvedere buffet as we like things simple and this suited us. Although the food was nothing special, there was plenty of it. The two nights that we dined in the MDR were enjoyable and it was nice to dress up a little and feel more special. On one occasion in the buffet we found a hair in a dessert and mentioned it to a waiter who apologised; then we were surprised when a senior waiter turned up to note down the incident, and then later that evening we found a letter of apology and a plate of chocolates in our cabin. Read more