On Queen Victoria again,27 April 2023-9 May 2023.

I have been waiting for this cruise impatiently from the day I booked it. If ever I needed a break, this was the time.

When I opened the door to cabin 8044 - I am not going to grace it with the name stateroom - my heart sank. Dark, gloomy, ugly. The bathroom, I hate going inside. The balcony utterly disgusting, chairs most uncomfortable, stained table.

The ship was launched 15 Jan 2007 and no improvement  whatsoever has been done here  since. The furniture is junk.

I am in Britannia Club. No slippers, no vanity set, no shower cap, no pen, no writing paper.

If it was a hotel I would have walked out. But you cannot do so from a cruise ship. Not after you paid £ 6, 493.00  for the cruise.

So, as always in life, I was determined to make the most of it.

Would food make up for the disappointment? No, it does not.

In the self-service on the 9th floor everything on offer is

luke-warm and unpalatable.

In the Britannia club restaurant it is a hit and miss affair, mostly miss.The pub serves  good chicken tikka masala, to date I have had it 5 times for lunch.

Soon I will be laying eggs.

But I persevere and make the most of each day.