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Airtours

MS Seawing

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: John Ryan
# previous cruises: 6
Date of Trip: August 21, 2001
Itinerary: Mediterranean

The Seawing is a small dirty little ship with a crew to match. Our Honeymoon was wrecked by the incompetence and attitude of the crew and after complaining we were made to sit at a table on our own in the restaurant. We complained about being given twin beds when we specifically asked for a double, from then on the crew, apart from a few, made our lives a misery. To add to the insult I suffered a very bad case of Food Poisoning and had to call the Doctor. He told me I was de hydrated, gave me an injection and charged me £65. Sorry but I know the difference between Dehydration and Food Poisoning even if he doesn’t. The Pursers office was worse than the Gestapo. I could only describe this boat as a "Bucket".

The Public areas were way too limited for the number of passengers, there was about 1000 on this cruise and I would say that was 500 too many. The bars were expensive and pretty crude; the Dining Room was completely inadequate with numerous work areas making it impossible to see anything unless you are in the middle of the Restaurant. Capacity for sunbathing was ridiculous, not even enough for half the passengers. The Pool was a laugh; if you pushed off to swim to the other end you would hit your head on the side before you surfaced. The cabins were tiny; I left my two dogs in bigger kennels when I came on this cruise. As for the shower I have several bruises from trying to use it. The temperature of the water varied constantly and often the shower would just stop for no reason.

The food was at best average. What made mealtime bearable was the excellent waiters we had but I think these were the only two decent waiters on board. The lounge had buffets but the two options were never available at the same time and again the food was very average. I spent an entire night being sick after one meal and the next day in bed.

The cabin was tiny with limited closet space. I had to leave most of my luggage in the case and just unpack what I needed for the Cruise. There was not enough room for two people to sit on the side of the bed at the same time and even passing in the cabin was a squeeze. The shower was a joke and required considerable imagination to use; I didn’t have a proper shower the whole trip. The water kept changing temperature and that was when you managed to get any water from it.

The cruise director was an excellent entertainer and many of the other crewmembers were very good. However out of some six shows we saw only two of them impressed. The Comedian was a laugh, but not as we know it. The funniest thing about him was that he called himself a comedian. The band was excellent musicians but after a week of elevator jazz I was glad to get off the boat. The last show we saw involved the "Madison Alley Cats" who were really were appropriately named. By the end of their show every able bodied mouse on board, that is those not suffering food poisoning, had jumped into the Med.

We had no use for childcare so cannot remark. We took the cruise for the Itinerary but were unable to get a copy of this before leaving. We were only given information on each destination the day before arrival, which meant that if you were on a tour that day you had to be quick to book the next day when you came back. The tours however, although very rushed as these things are, were the high point of the cruise and I would give them a good eight out of ten. Whilst on board there was very little to do and I am thankful that the day at sea was the day I was ill.

We met a couple of people on board who were very agreeable. They were less than impressed and remarked that the crew made them feel like an inconvenience. They too had complained and were re-seated to our table, which by now I called the "Sin Bin". Most of the passengers were very pretentious and liked to dress up in their evening gear and dine with the captain, whoever he was. During the day however it was quite clear that they were working class background trying to be something else. As for inviting them round for dinner................No!