Key issues included .... 1. Missed Two (2) Ports of call !!!! (excuses made) 2. our Son refused use of Golf & Gymn when days later any child was useing 3. Incompetent management of Complaints on board & worse with Head Office (refunded us just the Tips so staff suffered) No Escalation action. 4. Balcony Stateroom turned out very small - could not pass through without everyone on their bed / Bed Lamp was behind my head 5. Communications were always faulty included wrong locations ; wrong dates ; different on TV to announcements & hard copy 6. Health & Safety of Safety Briefing was a tick box ; buffet had boiling tea alongside children running past . 7. "Golf" was an old net and had three Left Handed clubs.
* What was good = Main Dining & Housekeeping.
Great cruise great cruise line just lacking entertainment
We flew to Seattle and stayed the night before being taken to the ship. The embarkation was a bit long as we were still in the throws of COVID and we had to all get last minute COVID tests (which we had been told we wouldn't have to have). Of course this was at an additional cost of £70+ each. I guess it couldn't have been avoided by the cruise company as we were told that Canada had moved the goal posts.
Once we were through this part the rest of the embarkment was straight forward and well organised.
The ship was clean and well staffed. Our balcony cabin was roomy and had everything we needed. The cabin staff were attentive. The bar staff were amazing and nothing was a problem. Its worth buying the added drinks package if you enjoy champagne. Food was good and adequate seating was available. We visited one of the speciality restaurants and that was a lovely experience.
The onboard spa was, as usual overpriced, and the massage experience was somewhat spoiled by the hard sell of the products after the massage.
The ship is well laid out with pools and jacuzzi, inside and outside restaurants, shops, bars and of course the theatre. The bars had a range of music experiences and quizzes etc.
Because it was a smaller ship we were able to cruise the smaller waterways and visited some beautiful scenery.
We had booked excursions for each stop but these were changed and we had to miss some of our experiences due to the time in dock being reduced. We did however manage to go whale watching (which was amazing), dog sledding (equally amazing) and canoeing. We had booked bear watching but that had had to be cancelled due to time in dock.
We arrived in Victoria, Canada in the evening and only had a couple of hours ashore so no real time to explore anything.
All in all the ship was top notch. The excursions that we did get were brilliant but we were disappointed that some of our shore time was taken away. This was a common theme from pretty much everyone on the ship.
Very good value despite mediocre weather. Food excellent - cordon bleu in non-speciality restaurants as well as speciality ones..
Service on the whole very good, with the odd blip. Initially inclusive wine selection very limited, but later expanded.
Would have liked more communication from the Captain.
Really enjoyed our cruise around the Canary Islands and across to Spain and Lisbon. The ship is fairly small with great outside space. Unfortunately the weather was not as warm as we expected, took all the wrong clothes and the air conditioning was on high and the bars and lounges were cold. Staff very friendly and our balcony cabin was clean and well
maintained. The daily entertainment was ok and the live music was a bit disappointing. Went to the Theatre 4 times during our 10 nights. Top class violinist and very 2 good musical shows. Very little music around the ship during the daytime but overall it was good and would travel with them again.
Decent food, terrible entertainment, bad management of bars, forever running out of items. Bar/waiters very good
This was our 1st Christmas; New Year cruise away and certainly picked the wrong ship. In need of refurbishment in public areas which were often cramped. The buffet restaurant was far too small, could never find a table to sit especially at breakfast, strangest buffet set up with several congestion points. The Four Seasons waiter restaurant was ok with good service, the quality of the food was poor with cheap tough steaks and stews and a dreadful Christmas dinner. How difficult can it be to produce a traditional roast dinner ? The speciality restaurants were of course superb.
The theatre resident show team, ( with the exception of Rock with you ), were amateurish to put it mildly, luckily the guest artists saved the day with some talented artists. My two favourite bars were the Windjammer, but could hardly ever get a seat and the Spinnaker top floor karaoke bar which was always near empty and was also cold., even the waiters had coats on !! My cabin was ok and kept clean and tidy throughout. Not a good review but we enjoyed all the destinations around the Canaries and Southern Spain and didn't let the poor state of this aging ship spoil our holiday