We took this particular cruise ship as it was going to places we would never have got a chance to see otherwise - French Polynesia mainly. Our expectations were high and they were met. Embarking was easy at Auckland - virtually walked right on. We booked an obstructed view cabin and we were more than happy with it. Although the view was partially blocked we did get a good amount of natural light coming in. The room was spotless and our steward was wonderful. Fresh towels all the time! Although some parts looked a bit tired it didn't matter because everything was so clean.

We couldn't believe there was so much food available- you could eat 24 hours a day if you wanted. We had booked the Anytime Dining and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The food was good, at times very very good. The waiters, on the whole were great, pleasant and entertaining when you wanted (there will always be a few exceptions to the rule). The service was excellent. It took awhile to get used to all the hand washing required but as no one came down with any stomach bugs, I guess it worked! We tried the pizza (excellent) the Hamburgers (great), the ice cream (not so), the International Cafe (excellent) and the Horizon Court (also excellent). The Pub Lunches were a great idea and very popular. We did not try the specialty restaurants as we would not have been able to do justice to the menu - we are both quite small eaters.

The entertainment was very good - the string trio that played late afternoon was amazing. Some of the acts in the theatre were of an extremely high standard, but unfortunately some of them were pretty awful. It didn't really matter as we always found something to do. Read more