Excellent BA flight to Athens and fair transfer to ship.
Shocked to find no kettle in lovely cabin,apparently you are expected to ask for cabin service each and every time you fancy a cuppa.I quickly found a senior steward and explained that we Brits do expect such a basic amenity and have no wish to wait until room service can find a moment to deliver.A kettle was duly provided!The cabin with balcony was excellent and food service in the dining room a high standard throughout.Some items on the LidoCafeeria service lacked enough heat and not always a lot of choice but always plenty of fruit,salads and desserts.Service was generally excellent with great attention to keeping hands cleansed at every service point.A serious complaint was however the cost of the organised Cunard trips which were very expensive,an example being a trip to Olympia from Katakalon with charges from 55 dollars to travel about 40 minutes and provide a site brochure.As you approached the town the first thing you saw was an advert for a round trip by coach for 10 euros.The half hour direct train trip was also 10 euros.No mention was made of these alternatives and in general an impression was given that you needed to book with Cunard although I never felt unsafe at any point including Istambul where the local taxi drivers were helpful and reasonable provided you were prepared to haggle.People on our dining table used the Cunard tours at nearly every location and usually paid approximately double the local charges…this really is something to beware of.Overall however this was an excellent cruise with superb destinations other than Mytelene which was scruffy with a lot of loose dogs roaming about.
