We have never done a sea cruise before. River cruises are our favourite but felt that we would take the plunge and find a suitable 'starter' cruise. Marella Discovery had a good itinerary which just about the right length. So we went ahead and booked The European Experience cruise, albeit a little apprehensive about one or two of the reviews we have read.

Embarkation at Southampton was very fast. We arived at the dock at 11.30 and were on board at 12:00 in spite of having a 10 minute walk from the car park to the ship. To be honest we were a bit overwhelmed once on board because the river cruise ships have about 120 passengers and Discovery had 1800+ so it was a bit of a shock to the system!!!!

Once we settled down and found our cabin and after the luggage arrived, we went to explore the ship. She is spotlessly clean, they are always polishing or hoovering something. Read more