GLOBE, Cruise & Maritime Voyages own magazine issue one

refers to Columbus:"Our new ship launched in June 2017..."This cruise was advertised on 16 June 2016.Columbus was going to be extensively refitted in Singapore in June 2017 before re-launch.The only reason I booked this cruise was,that I was expecting a spankingly new vessel.But shipshape and bristol fashion it is not.What we were promised and what we got are two completely different things and in my opinion the advertising campaign has been and is grossly misleading. There does not appear anything "new"about Columbus.It is a rickety old ship built in 1988 for the Princess Cruises that has had its day.The best has been taken out of it and not enough invested in improvements by Cruise and Maritime to justify the word "new". The outside is ugly and what appears to have been painted was done so badly,I would have done a better job with closed eyes and one hand tied behind my back. There have been workmen working on the banisters on the top most important level for us,passengers, for at least week now,rubbing them down and preparing for painting.The banisters are taped off,people with walking difficulties cannot lean against them.When I go for a walk or want to sunbathe I have dust and dirt fly into my eyes on a cruise I had paid £15.700 for on a ship that was supposed to have been extensively refurbished in June.The ship is work in progress. What should be in progress is hygiene,but it is not.The ship is dirty.The seating in the PALLADIUM theatre is disgustingly stained as if it had been urinated on,on almost every chair.The black tables in THE DOME never look clean, always kind of smothered,the legs have on them thick sediment of dust.The atrium has three levels,tables and chairs on each floor.When I want to sit down and place something on a table I have to wipe it first, the crumbs and stains.No,I have not looked at the legs,I shudder to think what lies beneath.In the Gym there are two damp sponges and 2 sprays with instructions to wipe all instruments before and after use.The same dirty wet sponges spreading the bacteria and sweat from one machine to the next. After the rain,and it does rain every night, the outside tables next to the self-service restaurant are never wiped.The ship on this cruise is patronised by people whose average age must be 75. Yet none of the staff go the extra way to help the old people many of whom are using walking sticks. But the most despicable and utterly disgraceful way is how some staff in this self-service restaurant behave towards the customers.A lady,good 75, dropped a fork the other day.I am sorry,she said, my hands shake. A server behind a counter said quite loudly to his colleague - it is always something with these people,now it is my hands shake,why are they not careful. I was utterly disgusted,I heard similar remarks on 2 occasions before.No respect towards us.We pay their wages.If we stop cruising,they will not have any jobs. I went to the customer service department and clearly explained how troubled I was not only by the bad attitude of the staff,but also by the hygiene.The receptionist wrote down what I said, including my cabin number 11140.This was 3-4 days ago.