Unfortunately, although the quality of food was good, it always arrived cold.
The fitness facilities were woefully inadequate whereas the gambling facilities were the opposite.
The entertainment facilities were also inadequate and very loud. The quality of the entertainment was variable.
Most of the staff were very courteous yet we found the lady on the restaurant booking desk rude and condescending.
There were queues lasting hours to embark but disembarkation was very smooth.
There were also large queues for reception and some reception staff were not particularly helpful.
The shops were mainly jewellery based so not much in the way of souvenirs aboard.
The destinations were very good especially Glacier bay.
This Western Isles cruise was greatly disrupted by poor weather and heavy seas. Thankfully the captain and his crew made the decision based on the forecast to use the best day to land on St Kilda. Apart from that half the planned itinerary was lost to the weather and replaced by either 'cruising' in rough seas or landing at sheltered mainland ports which were not part of the plan. The expedition team worked hard to replace missed excursions but this failed to meet the original aim of visiting the Western Islands. The ship was clean, comfortable despite the weather, and well equipped. All the crew worked hard and were friendly, professional and hard working. I suspect the demographics of the passengers surprised the crew as many were at least as old as us and in some cases less agile especially as all landings were carried out by tendering using small inflatables!
The worst part was the embarkation and disembarkation through Port Glasgow. The cruise terminal is a marquee with a limited car park for taxis, coaches and drop-offs. This is poorly signposted and lacks any facilities. We arranged car parking at Morrisons Supermarket about 15 minutes walk from the terminal.
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This was a tour round the Eastern Mediterranean over Christmas and New Year. It’s a small friendly ship, with only a few dining and entertainment choices on board, but that was all I wanted. The crew were brilliant too. Maybe it won’t suit those who want a luxury holiday resort aboard. I was much more interested in the ports of call and excursions. Only slight downside was that some excursions weren’t running, not the ship’s fault but the time of year. But most did run, including the ones most important to me. Christmas Eve in Jerusalem, wow!
They’re doing the same trip next Christmas, so anyone can check it out. I travel alone, and the solo price was very good. Cabin was comfortable and roomy.
It was a cruise to Iceland stopping off at two Scottish ports during the cruise.
The ship is very smart and elegant. Sometimes the staff were found lacking but I got the impression that they were not trained properly, example evening dinning- instead of waiting until everyone was seated to give out the menu’s they pounced on you even before you were properly seated, small enough but after a week of this it got annoying.
That aside the cruise was great
MS Spitsbergen
MS Spitsbergen is a medium ocean ship sailing with HX Expeditions.
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