During March this year I set sail for my first experience onboard a cruise ship; I was booked on Fred Olsen’s Mystery Easter Cruise and aboard the MS Boudicca which recently went under significant renovation in Hamburg. As this was my first experience on a cruise ship I didn’t really know what to expect and I was quite nervous.

The cabin I had was on Deck 4 with a porthole window. It had everything you needed including tea and coffee facilities, hair dryers, TV, air con/ heating facilities, large mirror and desk with work top space. I found the bathrooms to be slightly on the small side but the shower was always hot and clean.

As it was a mystery cruise I didn’t know where I was going until we arrived in each port. The itinerary ultimately featured stops at Ghent, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, 3 destinations which I have never visited before. I loved Ghent, it was such a beautiful city; Amsterdam again was lovely, but very busy as it was Easter weekend.

The food onboard was absolutely brilliant, so much choice and so many different restaurants. I mostly chose to eat in the buffet restaurant in the evening as I preferred to pick what I wanted rather than order off the menu. Breakfast was amazing, full range of fresh fruit, cold meats, pastries and hot full breakfasts. I would definitely recommend pre paying for the drinks package, convenient and economic instead of paying for drinks as requested.

Now I have enjoyed my first cruise, there is a huge choice of companies and destinations to select from for my second, third ….

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