I've only cruised P&O up to now so wanted to try something different - hence a 3 night taster cruise on 'Indy' as I am told I should refer to the ship!!
I've travelled on Britannia, Aurora & Ventura so far and don't get me wrong, they are all nice ships [in their own ways] but none of them had the WOW factor that Indy has. The Royal Promenade was v impressive, the on deck facilities [pools, slides etc] put P&O to shame, and the entertainment was fab - Ice Show, Grease Musical, Magician & Take That Tribute band - all outstanding. Don't get me wrong, P&O entertainment was good, but no WOW factor and not memorable. The Grease Show was West End standard [IMHO]. On my last Cruise on Britannia I felt getting around the boat was boring/uninteresting, but on Indy whichever Deck you were on, there was always something to see/look at, making the whole experience of getting around [I easily did my 10,000 steps a day!!] an enjoyable one! With these ships getting bigger and bigger, its amazing how much time you spend getting yourself around on deck! The Self Serve Restaurant [Windjammer], other than being a 'bun-fight' on a couple of occasions, was excellent and far better than P&O's Horizon. The choice was amazing, the staff extremely polite and helpful, and the whole experience great.
We had two ports of call - Rotterdam and Bruges. Having been to Bruges before [and being one of the few people it seems who thinks it was overpriced and crawling with bloomin Tourists], I stayed onboard and enjoyed the Ships facilities [interesting talk on RC, Live Big Band Music and a read of my book]. Rotterdam was a v. pleasant surprise. Only just had a wander around the city centre, but v clean and tidy, service was excellent, and not too overcrowded. We queued for the Shuttle Bus, but had we had a little more confidence, it was easily walkable in to the City Centre [we walked back].