Smurfies Latest Adventure

[david63]

How are first impressions of the ship/cabin.

First impressions were "what have we let ourselves in for!". Upon boarding the main areas of the ship were heaving, understandably as the cabins were not ready and everyone was milling around, and then there was the chaos of the safety drill. As we were both tired from the journey and the frustrations resulting from the journey neither of us were in the right frame of mind.

the standard of dress last night left a lot to be desired, but in some cases that could be due to late luggage delivery as they say that it can take until 21:00 to get all luggage delivered.

As for the cabin/suite - cannot fault it one bit. It is spacious and although there does not at first sight appear to be much storage space once you get round to unpacking there is tons of space - more than in some full suites that we have had on other ships. The cabin is much more modern than anything we have encountered before but it is Italian and they do know a bit about design.

There was one serious issue that we encountered last night and that is that the ship does not have any port to serve with the cheese

On the plus side all the staff are cheeful, friendly and helpful - more so than on many other ships,

Second impressions later ...

(No sign of any murders - yet!!!!!)

[Stephen]

David wrote:
(No sign of any murders - yet!!!!!)

Give it time, unless they sort the port issue out.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Any sign of Officer Kate? Asking for a friend.

[david63]

Any sign of Officer Kate? Asking for a friend.

You can tell your friend Shayne that she as not been spotted onboard - yet, but there are plenty of posts that she could join at.

As an aside we have just had a walk round the ship and there is not one bit that I can recognise from the TV programme - they must use a ghost ship, to go along with the ghost writers and gohst actors!!

[david63]

Right then here we go with second impressions.

After yesterday's chaos things have mostly settled down. The only time we encountered a crowd was when were coming out of the theatre which is always a problem on any ship.

One thing that has really impressed so far is the food. The style of food is, not surprisingly, Mediterranean with quite a lot of fish and some of the best pasta I have ever had (fresh pasta is made daily onboard). The restaurant is also excellent. The only problem is that at dinner depending on the time you arrive you may have to wait fot a table, There are many tables for two so there is no sharing of tables. This is of course in the Yacht Club restaurant - I have no idea of what the the other MDRs are like.

This afternoon we saw one of, if not the, best shows we have ever seen on any ship - Dirty Dancing in Concert. The actual film was played at whenever there was any singing then it was done live with actual musicians playing (no canned music). Also there were dancers both on stage and in the auditorium at appropriate moments - and yes they did the iconic lift.

We also managed to have a walk around the ship this morning and it is just so different to any other ship we gave been on in both the layout and the decor. Deck 6/7 is somewhat reminiscent of the Trafford Centre, only considerably smaller.

One interesting fact is that as this is an Italian ship it soes not have a deck 17 as that is the equivalent of our deck 13!.

We have been crossing the BoB today and whilst the Bay has been like a millpond the weather has been somewhat cool and quite windy, with an occasional shower.

Not sure why but almost every time we come back to the cabin another bottle of booze has arrived. We currently have a bottle of Moet, a bottle of Bombay Saphire and a bottle of Prosecco - that is over and above what is in the mini bar!

Now for a bit of balance the one thing that is somewhat disappointing is the standard of dress. We were fully aware that this ship has a more relaxed dress code that some other ships but as is always the case there will always be some that take it to the extreme.

Murder update - none
Kate update - none
Shayne update - none
One crew member - none

[oldbluefox]

Thanks David. Interesting to read of the differences. Have a great cruise.

[Stephen]

David wrote:

Not sure why but almost every time we come back to the cabin another bottle of booze has arrived. We currently have a bottle of Moet, a bottle of Bombay Saphire and a bottle of Prosecco - that is over and above what is in the mini bar!

You’re welcome David

[david63]

OK let's get the disappointment out of the way first, Today we were in La Coruna and it didn't rain - every time we have been there in the past it has poured down. Next no bottle of booze has arrived today. And finally there has not been any murders!

Let's talk lifts. The lifts on this ship are "intelligent". When you arrive at the lifts there is a panel on which you select the deck that you want to go to. You are then told which lift to use - no jumping in the first lift that is going up and pressing a button to go down as there are no buttons inside the lifts. Such a system on other cruise lines would have passengers confused.

Tonight we went to one of the "Carousel" show which are mix of acrobatics, juggling, contortions - something along the line of a Cirque de Sol show. Even though there is an addional charge this was spmething else and totally unbelievable what they could do. Probably the best show I have ever seen on a ship and possibly better than most that I have seen on land.

Still no sign of Kate...

[Mervyn and Trish]

The lifts sound amazing. Anything to stop the going up to go down brigade!

Not sure about the additional charge for a show. Though I presume it stopped the after dinner dash to queue. But don't give P&O any ideas.

Shame about Kate. That's a serious disappointment. We had Second Officer Isabel on Saga, but never checked out her detective skills.

[Stephen]

Have you come across the robotic bar tender yet David.

[Onelife]

I really dislike this “pay extra” to see a show option, it's sending cruising in the wrong direction as far as I am concerned.

[Stephen]

Don’t normally bother with shows, the exception being a comedian. Agree, I wouldn’t pay extra to see one.

[Ray B]

The lifts sound amazing. Anything to stop the going up to go down brigade!

Now that would bugger them up, no buttons, so they would have to exit the lift and maybe join a queue to get back in.

[Stephen]

I’m surprised lift control isn’t via an app, everything else is these days.

[david63]

Not sure about the additional charge for a show.

I really dislike this “pay extra” to see a show option, it's sending cruising in the wrong direction as far as I am concerned.

Just to be clear these shows are in addition to the main evening show in the theatre. I look at along the lines of select dining - you can pay to use it or not, the option is entirely yours, For reference if pre-paid before the cruise it is £9 pp, onboard it is £15 pp - guess which option we took!

Have you come across the robotic bar tender yet David.

Came across him on the fisrt day and again today but he was not doing very much - could have something to do with having to pay for his drinks! The other issue is that he is in "cattle class" and that means leaving our enclave.

Today has been a sea day so there has been an abundance of towels adorning sunbeds with their owners highly conspicuous by their absence.

On walking round the ship this morning we noticed that all the pools had lifeguards in attendance, We also walked though the buffet and I can quite honestly say that it was the biggest buffet that I have seen on any ship - both in respect of the food options and the amount of tables.

Tonight was "Elegant/Gala Night". We approached this with a degree of trepidation as, based on the previous nights, the standard of dress in the evening left a lot to be desired, But our fears were unfounded as many were dressed appropriately in "black tie" formal wear - there were of course some exceptions!

Tomorrow is the first of six consecutive port days so perhaps on one of the days we might have Kate seeing us off. Body count still nil - although bodies are not usually found untill Friday.

[Stephen]

Still don’t agree with paying for a show when they are normally included. I don’t car how good they are. You pay enough for your cruise without little money spinners being added. Yes, it is your choice whether to attend, I for one wouldn’t.

[Onelife]

Yeap! That’s how I see things, you pay the cruise fee which should allow you entrance into any of the show venues. Your cruise experience shouldn’t imo be determined by how much more you are willing to pay. The way things are going you’ll soon have the choice of which fee-paying toilets you can use.

[towny44]

Still don’t agree with paying for a show when they are normally included. I don’t car how good they are. You pay enough for your cruise without little money spinners being added. Yes, it is your choice whether to attend, I for one wouldn’t.

And that's why they give you a choice, we had not bothered with the Limelight club until our 35 nighter on Iona, and we really enjoyed it. Unlikely to go on every cruise, but probably will on our next long cruise.

[towny44]

Yeap! That’s how I see things, you pay the cruise fee which should allow you entrance into any of the show venues. Your cruise experience shouldn’t imo be determined by how much more you are willing to pay. The way things are going you’ll soon have the choice of which fee-paying toilets you can use.

But all holidays are the same, you pay more for a posher room, and for the waiter service restaurants, Smurfie is paying nearly double for his YC experience. Cruising is only following the normal trends.

[Stephen]

I don’t follow anyone, let alone trends.

[oldbluefox]

Luggage.jpg

Have you managed to get unpacked yet David. Your steward looks as if he's earning his crust!!

[Stephen]

And that's just Davids

[Mervyn and Trish]

He travels light compared to Trish us

[Mervyn and Trish]

Still don’t agree with paying for a show when they are normally included. I don’t car how good they are. You pay enough for your cruise without little money spinners being added. Yes, it is your choice whether to attend, I for one wouldn’t.

And that's why they give you a choice, we had not bothered with the Limelight club until our 35 nighter on Iona, and we really enjoyed it. Unlikely to go on every cruise, but probably will on our next long cruise.

We liked the Limelight Club, and didn't mind paying. We regarded it as a speciality dining venue with cabaret thrown in rather than paying for entertainment, which felt okay.

[david63]

Personally I see no difference between paying for an entertainment venue and that of a speciality dining venue. Everyone is free to use those venues or not - it is not as if there are no alternatives.