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Festival Cruises

MS European Vision

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Louise Holyward
# previous cruises: 1
Date of Trip: December 21, 2001
Itinerary: Caribbean

This was our first cruise and we felt that the ship was very well designed and had excellent facilities. The staff were very friendly and polite and exceedingly hardworking. The itinerary was good and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

All areas were nicely furnished and kept immaculately. We didn't have any favourites as everywhere was nice. There was no walk around promenade, but nowhere felt particularly crowded and we could always get sun loungers around the pools, or overlooking them.

We found the breakfast/lunchtime buffets excellent. We were upgraded to the La Pegola Restaurant as we requested a different sitting, and we found the service to be very attentive and the food fine. One slight criticism would be that the buffet was not open for alternative dining in the evening, so you could only have pizza, if you didn't want to go into the main restaurant.

We had an outside cabin which was very well furnished, light and airy. There were four of us sharing with four suitcases which we thought we would have to leave half packed. However, we had plenty of space to unload it all and even found a couple of cupboards that we didn't know existed, at the end of our holiday. The en-suite shower room was small but very well designed and the shower was very good. Plenty of electrical sockets also + hairdryer in bathroom. The cabin was Excellent.

The staff worked very hard, although it must have difficult for them as they had to say everything in so many languages. The quality of the shows that we saw varied from good to excellent. Some of the dancers we thought were superb and very energetic.

We boarded at Guadaloupe. Unfortunately our plane was late coming in so it meant late departure of the ship, which had a bit of a knock on effect. The first port of call was St. Barts. We tendered to the harbour, which was very attractive and then walked to Shell Beach, which was pleasant for a short stay. The next port of call was Santo Domingo, which we didn't like at all. A lot of people trying to get money out of you and a scary taxi drive to the city, which was closed, so obviously didn't see it at its best. Also more passengers were picked up here and their incoming flights were delayed, thus making the ship late for its next port of call, Tortola - it was supposed to arrive lunchtime but did not get there until early evening - therefore unable to visit the beach as planned.

Next port was Christmas day in Antigua. We went on a catamaran snorkeling trip and thoroughly enjoyed it and then caught a taxi to Dickenson's Bay, which was very nice. Next port of call was Barbados on Boxing Day. We caught a taxi to Holetown and found a couple of lovely beaches, where we swam and went jet-skiing. Excellent. The next port of call was Grenada. We tendered and went on a half day tour of the island, which is very lush and enjoyed it very much. The only downside is that they stop at a rum factory and a nutmeg processing station on way back and I felt that time could have been better spent on a beach!!!

There were many different nationalities on board and very mixed ages. Quite a lot of families with older teenagers. Not many old people and not many really young children. We found a lot of those that had cruised with other lines were moaning and unhappy, though with the exception of some which had experienced genuine problems, we failed to see why this was.