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Airtours

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Reviewed by: L. Downey
# previous cruises: 2
Date of Trip: December 25, 1999
Itinerary: Caribbean

This cruise isn't worthy of even a single star. A catalogue of disaster from start to finish. This was booked as a "Millennium Cruise" to take in five different Caribbean ports. We didn't even make it to Jamaica which would have been the highlight of the week - still waiting for the full explanation from Airtours. To sum up - the ship was shoddy, entertainment abysmal, food bland and service appalling. More than 800 passengers signed up to register their discontent with the cruise. I will never travel with this company again.

Some of the main areas smelt of sewage - we believe there were some on-going sanitation problems. The ship was probably last refurbished in the seventies. The pool was aimed for the kids on board - very small and not suitable for swimming in. Casino OK - bit dingy. The main lounges were very old fashioned.

Buffet breakfast and lunch meant huge queues for mediocre fare. Sit down breakfast was much better. Evening meal was European bland food - sounding far better on the menu than it looked or tasted. No Caribbean options available at all. Ordering drinks was a battle - you often had to ask three or four times before you received them.

We had a standard outside cabin on B deck - it was tiny. It was, however, functional enough for two people - but I dread to think what it was like with four in there! Shower very small - larger passengers must have struggled. Only plus point was that it was quite quiet.

Shows were poor. One night there was a juggler on - not our idea of a fun night on a cruise ship! Comedian was quite funny but the jokes were definitely British ones and I think a lot of the humour was lost on the Americans and Canadians on board which was a shame. On New Year's Eve the show was based around songs from famous musicals and wasn't really very "special" considering the fact it was 31.12.99.

We stopped at four of the five scheduled ports. Not one excursion booked on ship went to plan. Most people got their money back or a proportion of it for the tours. I would not recommend booking any tours on board if you are unfortunate enough to be going on this ship.

The fellow passengers were what made this miserable week worthwhile. We met some lovely people from the US and Canada whom we hope to keep in touch with. There was a great mix of Brits, Americans and Canadians and despite everyone's notable disappointment with the cruise we all seemed to get along really well.