Taster not so tasty

Checking in was slick and very quick. 

The only place to have breakfast and lunch was Windjammers which, although ok, did not have the usual range of food and we prefer to dine in the proper restaurants which had been open during the last taster cruise in 2013.

We noticed the quality of the entertainment was not so good as in previous cruises and there seemed to be less staff serving drinks during performances.  In actuality, there seemed to be less staff anyway!  Nowhere near enough bar-staff and not enough (or well enough trained) staff in the restaurants in the evening.  There were always queues at the bar!  Also, I'd bought a drinks package with champagne (sparkling wine!) and asked for dry and on two occasions was served what can only be described as sugary syrup Freixenet with assurances that it was dry.  Undrinkable and disappointing until I watched the bar staff serve other people and worked out what I needed to order!

The Next Cruise person I spoke to just could not be bothered.  She was more intent on eating a slice of pizza that her niece who was a passenger had brought for her.  It really was like a scene from Little Britain in terms of "computer says no" with no attempt to offer alternatives to my request for information on Far East or Arabian Gulf cruises for next summer - most disappointing!!

The cabin was spotless and extremely well attended by our lovely man Charles and as usual the staff on board were generally courteous and helpful.