Flight Out:
Superb, we were very fortunate.
Economy was fully booked, and we were selected to be bumped up into Premium.
So the holiday literally got off to a flying start.
Embarkation:
It was perfect, we were literally the first people off our flight to walk through the embarkation hall doors and as a result had zero queues to deal with and were onboard ship within minutes.
Cabin:
17221- an unusual cabin, It counts as front of ship, has the lowest grading for a balcony yet due to the ships configuration has a bedroom and a living room and a double width balcony.
The balcony is overhung by the upper deck so is in shade once the sun is higher in the sky, but that suits us as the balcony is always useable (we dont like roasting on a full sun balcony).
Very clean and tidy, same as other cabins in most other ways.
Bathroom slightly smaller but storage space and accessibility to it larger.
The bedroom was very comfortable to walk around as a result of the layout.
Ship:
Same as last time we were on it.
Its very clean and tidy, effectively it still feels like a new ship.
There is more space than people would think.
We never had a problem finding somewhere to be.
Food quality:
We never used the MDR.
Always choosing specialities for main meal and either the Quays or Horizon for breakfast/lunch.
Our fave meal was the Steak and Prawns on Lava Block in The Beach House.
Good value and superb quality.
Cow and Keel & Green & Co (where I tried the excellent Sushi) were our faves.
We used to have breakfast in Cow & Keel on our previous cruise on Arvia, but unfortunately they have stopped doing that.
As for the other restaurants I would say that the quality was not quite as good as before..
and the pricing has also gone upwards.
So whilst we never went hungry or thirsty I would say it wasn’t quite as good as it was previously by comparison.
Entertainment: We didnt do much, we had seen all the shows before.
Tbh we were not that bothered for them.
We thought the Pulse band were excellent, especially the rock music night.
710 club band were also good…
although perhaps lacked the vitality of the first band we saw there.
We also saw Chesney Hawkes in the Limelight.
This was truly excellent, not only was the food very good but the show was superb.
Staff:
Well they are the star of the show.
So friendly, so attentive.
But you know this already if you are only half human.
Port Days:
We did a combo of sorting ourselves out and using ships tours.
We found that to go on a boat trip it was best to book on board but to just visit a beach best to sort out on shore by using a taxi/minibus (although you had to be very clear as to what you want to do and make sure your trip doesnt get hijacked by other passengers wanting something different as you wait for it to be filled…Our best port day was in St Kitts where West Indies were playing Bangladesh in a one day international.
We spent all day at the match and had a wonderful time.
After that we can recommend the boat transfer to Anas d’atat on Martinique; a day at Church Valley Beach on Antigua by taxi; Transfer to Jost Van Demon island whilst on Tortola.
and of course as always the Piton catamaran cruise on St Lucia which is always good value.
Disembarkation:
well organised, our flight home was one of the first so we didnt have much waiting around either on the ship or in the airport…
and we were once again in Premium so the flight was comfortable enough for me to attend the football that Saturday afternoon without feeling too tired.
Overall: A top cruise that we thoroughly enjoyed.