We wanted to see New Zealand in comfort. Unfortunately we saw little. Weather conditions prevented us from entering Gisborne and fjord land. We upgraded to the Genoa suite. The suite was so noisy we had disrupted sleep for 13 nights. The suite appears to be next door to an air conditioning unit. The noise from the unit vibrates into the room, particularly the bed , as it is placed up against the wall of the unit. The balcony is unusable. The noise from the ships wake and the air conditioning unit makes for an uncomfortable experience. After 3 days of suffering the noise we decided to complain. We were told that there were no spaces available and that when we were in port the noise would stop. This response implied that we had to sleep whilst in port. When we complained we got the impression that it was not the first time the noise had been reported. We paid extra money for a very poor suite.

We ate in the club class dining room. The meals were good and beautifully presented. The waiting staff were wonderful. Of an evening we sat and listened to both the piano man and Laura Callaghan. Both were great entertainment. They got the guests singing along and dancing. The bar staff on this level were also great. The furniture around the ship is very old and uncomfortable. Also there were not enough chairs on the piazza level.