We arrived around 11.30 and the terminal was already fairly busy. The bag drops are just outside the terminal building and split by deck number. It would have been useful if our e ticket had explained that in advance. Check in was fairly swift with 3 desks dedicated to grills passengers with a separate seating area after check in (though not particularly luxurious utilising the same seats as the rest of the terminal). We started to go through airport style security at 12.00 which again was swift and we were on the ship in no time. There were lots of staff on hand to direct us to the lifts but no one showed us to our cabin.

Our first bag was already outside our cabin (Q4) when we arrived and the second arrived very soon afterwards - very impressive. Our assistant butler arrived soon after we got there. He brought our drinks order slip for the cabin bar and was very keen to get us to fill it in without really giving us time to think about what was available. This had a larger choice than we had anticipated from reading the reviews and blogs. There was a choice of 3 scotches and Jack Daniels, other spirits and around 8 wines. We regretted taking wine bottles on board having seen the choice but we are still unclear whether the wine would be replenished as the assistant butler said we could choose 2 bottles. It’s a pity you can't select which drinks you want in the VP. I asked for the Carlberg in the mini bar to be replaced with Speckled Hen and cider which our assistant butler took a note of. He then disappeared without showing us around or explaining anything to us. He told us our butler was a lady and she would see us soon but she didn't appear in an hour so we went for lunch. As we approached the lifts we spotted our butler standing by the lifts (her name was on a card in the cabin and on her badge) so we introduced ourselves and asked her to unpack for us which she set off to do immediately. The unpacking was obviously done in a rush as very little was hung up in the wardrobe. Even my shirts were taken out of the case and stuffed in a drawer. We had to recover the situation on our return from lunch.

When we returned to our cabin after lunch the beer and cider had arrived but not the scotch I ordered. I called the butler around 17.00 and she told me she would bring it after dinner which she did - 2 bottles of Glenfiddich. This was not the Glenfiddich I am used to as it was much darker with a stronger flavour but ok. Read more