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Mediterranean Shipping Cruises

SS Melody

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Reviewed by: Christine Burnham
# previous cruises: 1
Date of Trip: March 15, 2002
Itinerary: Caribbean

A group of friends decided we should go on a cruise round the caribbean. I was not particularly looking forward to this holiday, as I had been seasick in the past. I can now say that it is probably the best holiday I have been on in years. We met loads of friends, with whom we still keep in contact, it was like a friendly floating community. In fact, it has made me seriously consider a job on board!

The public areas in general were ample. There was certainly enough public space for the amount of people on board. The pools were fairly small, but not usually busy. There were certainly enough bars for you to feel you weren't in the same place every night. The casino was good fun, however, the nightclub dance floor was pretty small.

Food was fabulous! If you wanted to, you could eat all day. There was a choice of the main waiter service dining room for breakfast and lunch, and the buffet was then available at 11 pm for those who have a large appetite, not to mention afternoon tea and morning croissants & coffee! The service was very good, we had really happy waiters and waitresses, the only downfall was the buffet had no labels and, having two vegetarians in our party, some dishes were difficult to distinguish between meat, fish and veg. I enjoyed the waiter service for breakfast to the buffet, as everything was freshly cooked, however, lunch from the buffet was full of fresh salads and fruits.

We booked a cabin with a porthole and, although this did increase the cost somewhat, it was worth it. I was told not to expect much from the cabins before the cruise, and that we wouldn't spend much time there - that much was true, however, I found them quite comfortable and spacious, with a sitting area, two single beds and a further wardrobe area. The bathroom had a powerful shower and a small bath.At night you could hear the engines, however, after a couple of days you got used to it.

The entertainment was OK. Within a group of 9 people we tended to make our own entertainment, however, the shows we did watch were fun. Especially the fire eating show put on by the seamen, they were very entertaining. The cruise staff were very friendly and nothing seemed to be too much trouble.

We didn't take advantage of the excursions from the ship, as it was cheaper to book a taxi between a big group and tour the islands independently. Other people we met on the cruise, however, said the excursions were very good. We stopped at Grenada, Antigua, St Lucia, Tortola, Nassau, Guadeloupe and St Martin, all of which were beautiful islands, except Guadeloupe, which was fairly dirty in the town. The good part about that island was the ability to use European based mobile phones.

There were people of all ages on this cruise, apparently this one is normally for an older crowd, however, there were plenty of younger (20-40) people on board. we are keeping in contact with people from all over and would gladly welcome them over.